Things I hate about a language

[r035198x]

Everyone hates something about some language.
Let's hear it.

[Banfa]

English is does so full of pointless exceptions, it really ticks me off sometimes.

[r035198x]

PHP : I hate the $ and the loose typing
Java : Strong typing can be a pain too
C++ : Destructors, pointers

Still thinking of others

[Banfa]

What I hate about C++ is the way it automagically writes code for you in the back ground when you use templates. It does always seem to get it right but it's not always obvious what needs correcting and I just can bring myself to completely trust that it has managed to do the right thing.

[markmcgookin]

VB.Net Compact framework doesn't support the simplest of functions that are really useful! i.e. Autoscroll on forms

[Ganon11]

C++: Having to actually use pointers. Ahh, for the days of Java...
Java: Pre-Java5, input was difficult. Now we have all these Scanners and whatnot.
VB: Felt like I couldn't do anything very 'fancy'.
HTML: Boring - all it was for me was formatting.
BASIC: SO tired of top-down programming.

[stroken]

C++: Having to actually use pointers. Ahh, for the days of Java...
Java: Pre-Java5, input was difficult. Now we have all these Scanners and whatnot.
VB: Felt like I couldn't do anything very 'fancy'.
HTML: Boring - all it was for me was formatting.
BASIC: SO tired of top-down programming.

Actually, in Java you only uses pointers.

[Ganon11]

I know, but Java does the work of dereferencing and whatnot for you, so it's like you don't have to touch the pointers at all.

[markmcgookin]

VB: Felt like I couldn't do anything very 'fancy'.

Whatever....

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        MsgBox("Hello World")
    End Sub
 

*Waits for applause from astounded crowd*

[Ganon11]

You get no applause!

:P

[sicarie]

Everyone hates something about some language.
Let's hear it.

Java:
System.out.println(" ");
GregorianCalendar Objects, Dates are now just an interface.

[markmcgookin]

Java:
System.out.println(" ");
GregorianCalendar Objects, Dates are now just an interface.

whats wrong with system.out? Useful wee debugging tool that

[sicarie]

whats wrong with system.out? Useful wee debugging tool that

C++:
cout << "";

Java is slightly more verbose than necessary... (Though it definitely is useful in debugging)

[r035198x]

C++:
cout << "";

Java is slightly more verbose than necessary... (Though it definitely is useful in debugging)

I agree. The static import makes it possible to just say
out.println();

but I would have prefered something as short as printf

[markmcgookin]

I agree. The static import makes it possible to just say
out.println();

but I would have prefered something as short as printf

Is printf like PASCAL... what was it's println command?

[r035198x]

Is printf like PASCAL... what was it's println command?

printf is C to go to next line you just add \n at the end of your string

[Ganon11]

I believe you can still use printf and scanf in C++ by including the <cstdio> header file...or was it <cstdlib>? Either way, out of curiosity I'd like to look at the syntax of these sometime.

[r035198x]

I believe you can still use printf and scanf in C++ by including the <cstdio> header file...or was it <cstdlib>? Either way, out of curiosity I'd like to look at the syntax of these sometime.

 #include <cstdio> 
int main() {
 printf("works");
 return 0;
}
 

[blackjack2150]

Java: - The absence of properties. get set get set get set....
- No operator overloading
- User input:
BufferedReader key = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

[r035198x]

Java: - The absence of properties. get set get set get set....
- No operator overloading
- User input:
BufferedReader key = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

Can now use Scanner for user input. Cleaner but still just as cumbersome.

[Banfa]

I believe you can still use printf and scanf in C++ by including the <cstdio> header file...or was it <cstdlib>? Either way, out of curiosity I'd like to look at the syntax of these sometime.

That would be <cstdio> and I wouldn't bother with scanf, it is a poor function with serious security issues and should be avoid at all costs. I would recommend fgets followed by parsing the received string yourself, there are some useful helper functions for this like strtol etc.

printf is easy it is just a format string with place holders ("%d" for int, "%s" for string) in it to output variable values, the variables follow the string in the parameter list. The place holders can be qualified for field size, precision, variable size and presentation and need to be looked up.

[blackjack2150]

Java: - The absence of properties. get set get set get set....
- No operator overloading
- User input:
BufferedReader key = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

I forgot to mention that you must add "throws IOException" to the header of the methods which deal with user input.

[r035198x]

I forgot to mention that you must add "throws IOException" to the header of the methods which deal with user input.

That's what the Scanner now eliminates.

[gowda gopala]

C: pointerns
C++:linked list

[markmcgookin]

Java: - The absence of properties. get set get set get set....
- No operator overloading
- User input:
BufferedReader key = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

what do you mean? like instead of txtBox1.text you need to do temp = getText(txtBox1) etc?

And yeah, buffered readers and action listeners etc are a pain, vive la VB Event driven programming!

[Atli]

C++:
Pointers are annoying but yet they give you so much control.
I for one would be very sad if we lost them.

C# :
There is no way to know the current index in a foreach loop.

PHP:
$.. its everywhere!

[AricC]

Whatever....

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        MsgBox("Hello World")
    End Sub
 

*Waits for applause from astounded crowd*

Wooohoooo Mark I love the Val function

[nemisis]

and i dont like the language of love(the way girls think, no offense)



If there is something more difficult to understand, than one woman, its two women at the same time!!!!

[LacrosseB0ss]

VB: Error messages suck. Example: "Error in Row". Thanks for the debug help there! Oh, and If ... THEN. Coming back to VB after working in Java and C for a few years is driving me nuts!

C/++/#, Java, etc: semi-colon after every line. The endless nights of debugging code. Reading it and re-reading it to find the 1 compile error only to have a prof discover there was (a) a semi colon missing (b) a semi-colon in the wrong spot or (c) I hit shift and there was a colon somewhere. Gosh!

- LB

[Banfa]

C/++/#, Java, etc: semi-colon after every line. The endless nights of debugging code. Reading it and re-reading it to find the 1 compile error only to have a prof discover there was (a) a semi colon missing (b) a semi-colon in the wrong spot or (c) I hit shift and there was a colon somewhere. Gosh!

You should have to examine the code to find these errors (in C/C++ and Java certainly) the output from the compiler should point you fairly straight at them.

[blackjack2150]

VB: Error messages suck. Example: "Error in Row". Thanks for the debug help there! Oh, and If ... THEN. Coming back to VB after working in Java and C for a few years is driving me nuts!

C/++/#, Java, etc: semi-colon after every line. The endless nights of debugging code. Reading it and re-reading it to find the 1 compile error only to have a prof discover there was (a) a semi colon missing (b) a semi-colon in the wrong spot or (c) I hit shift and there was a colon somewhere. Gosh!

- LB

Have you ever written a program in C#? If you forget a semicolon in C#, the compiler says: "; expected" pointing you the location of the error also!

[LacrosseB0ss]

yes it does. And when I posted this I was referring to all languages with semicolons with those as examples. They all just piss me off. The problem I had when I took C++ in school was that we were given a compiler that ran in Linux but my Linux partition on my school issued laptop wasn't working. So I tried work arounds but free internet stuff sucked and I resorted to coding apps in Notepad and having friends test them.

This is where the problem came from. I will say when you have a compiler to direct you to an error, it's much easier. They say you learn from your mistakes, well I definately did that time!

[pbmods]

javascript: Internet Explorer

Sorry, that doesn't really count, does it?

PHP: Built-ins aren't object-oriented (yet).
javascript: (kind of along the lines of the first line in my post) having to do things differently in every browser.

[TRScheel]

C++:
Pointers are annoying but yet they give you so much control.
I for one would be very sad if we lost them.

C# :
There is no way to know the current index in a foreach loop.

PHP:
$.. its everywhere!

To your C# point, foreach is also harder on the system to do for some odd reason, and you can't change the item you are on.

My two cents though:

c++:
The amount of code you have to write to get something simple going... and the amount you have to write to get something complicated going as well.

vb .Net:
How annoyed I get when I have to write

dim test as integer

After getting used to just writing

int test; 

In c#. I could use a longer example, but I think that shows it just fine. Also, how everything is seperated with indentation instead of something like... brackets.

php / ASP:
How it mixes design and implementation. The code is in the page!

html:
Well this is in compliance, and it looks funny in mozilla. Well now its fixed for mozilla, but in safari and ie this picture is off on the moon. Well lets fix that. Oh now mozilla has the damn text way over there... continue until someone gets shot. Oh, and the multitude of items out there that you shouldn't use anymore... but still exist. Example: <blink></blink>. I think there's a KKK for the blink tag, on that note.

[ilikepython]

C++: taking 5 minutes to compile, save, and run a program just to test something, when in python I just open the interpreter. (nitpick)

[drhowarddrfine]

html:
Well this is in compliance, and it looks funny in mozilla. Well now its fixed for mozilla, but in safari and ie this picture is off on the moon. Well lets fix that. Oh now mozilla has the damn text way over there... continue until someone gets shot. Oh, and the multitude of items out there that you shouldn't use anymore... but still exist. Example: <blink></blink>. I think there's a KKK for the blink tag, on that note.

Those of us who know html don't have any such problems.

[TRScheel]

Those of us who know html don't have any such problems.

Please describe your first few weeks of working with HTML... it probably sounded exactly like that. While granted, it isnt that bad, there are times when I hit an issue and its a pull your hair out moment until you realize its just some browser taking its own liberties with the language (<cough> ie </cough>).

I sware to God, that language is just a pain. Sadly, its not the language's fault either!

[drhowarddrfine]

Ah! You do understand! That's why you never use IE for initial testing.

[markmcgookin]

I forgot to mention that you must add "throws IOException" to the header of the methods which deal with user input.

Yeah I'll give you that one, that can be a pain. It's nice when ann app can just let you miss exceptions unless you want them caught individually.

[gits]

javascript: Internet Explorer

Sorry, that doesn't really count, does it?

PHP: Built-ins aren't object-oriented (yet).
javascript: (kind of along the lines of the first line in my post) having to do things differently in every browser.

of course this counts ;) but since it is not really a javascript-problem, that browser-things ARE annoying ...

[pbmods]

Oh, and...

PHP: references !== pointers

[drhowarddrfine]

of course this counts ;) but since it is not really a javascript-problem, that browser-things ARE annoying ...

I believe it's the difference between Microsoft's JScript and standard javascript. We should all be using DOM methods now anyway which is where a lot of people get into problems with incompatabilities. (That is, by NOT using the DOM).

[gits]

I believe it's the difference between Microsoft's JScript and standard javascript. We should all be using DOM methods now anyway which is where a lot of people get into problems with incompatabilities. (That is, by NOT using the DOM).

i fully agree with you ... its a problem that a lot of people are starting to develop with IE and thus simply IE-specific ways to do things, using jscript and don't understand that that is not javascript at all ... so a lot of questions and posts come from that ... its difficult to say that i hate this, but its a way that is due to the widespread IE ... and people learn it when it comes to serious development ...

[DeMan]

languages that use "dim" (eg v.basic) always used to amuse me,.....it served as a reminder that the computer was not so bright without good instruction......

[TRScheel]

languages that use "dim" (eg v.basic) always used to amuse me,.....it served as a reminder that the computer was not so bright without good instruction......

I just got the mental image of a person giggling everytime they type dim into their code.

[vinci]

i hate languages that i really dont know about...

but am proud of knowing VB, C#, Java,, but just basic

[JKing]

In c#. I could use a longer example, but I think that shows it just fine. Also, how everything is seperated with indentation instead of something like... brackets.

Not sure what you mean by things not being seperated by brackets. Blocks of code are all grouped by { } in C#
Example:

if true
{
}
else
{
}
 

Though you can also do the following without errors and I'm assuming this is what you're refering to.

if true
      //code here using no brackets and just indent
 

I always use the brackets though as I find it's easier to read.

[TRScheel]

Not sure what you mean by things not being seperated by brackets. Blocks of code are all grouped by { } in C#
Example:

if true
{
}
else
{
}
 

Though you can also do the following without errors and I'm assuming this is what you're refering to.

if true
      //code here using no brackets and just indent
 

I always use the brackets though as I find it's easier to read.

Sorry, I meant that for VB. NET. I get annoyed with indentation, and prefer the {}

I get ahead of myself typing sometimes... its gonna catch up to me sometime

EDIT:

Going back to my post, I realized what you were originally pointing out.

vb .Net:
How annoyed I get when I have to write

dim test as integer
 

After getting used to just writing

int test;
 

In c#. I could use a longer example, but I think that shows it just fine. Also, how everything is seperated with indentation instead of something like... brackets.

That is all together... ramblings about VB .NET.

[JKing]

Oh, misunderstanding on my part. I totally agree with you about the lack of brackets in VB as well as the declaration of variables. My personal annoyance in VB is declaring for loops. I prefer the method of:

for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
 

compared to:

 
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 to 5
 

Another thing is the lack of the ++, +=, --, -= operators

I'm probably just biased though because I learned C# before VB. I still try to put C# code in my VB code once in a while and just laugh when the error appears.

[TRScheel]

Oh, misunderstanding on my part. I totally agree with you about the lack of brackets in VB as well as the declaration of variables. My personal annoyance in VB is declaring for loops. I prefer the method of:

for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
 

compared to:

 
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 to 5
 

Another thing is the lack of the ++, +=, --, -= operators

I'm probably just biased though because I learned C# before VB. I still try to put C# code in my VB code once in a while and just laugh when the error appears.

You can do

For Dim i as Integer = 0 to 10 step 1
 

Edit:

I know what you mean about the C# into VB code... I always end up with a chunk of code having at least one semicolon at the end of a line somewhere.