What are General-Purpose Programming Languages?
- Wide range of applications: They can be used to build software in various domains, such as web development, game development, data analysis, and more.
- Not domain-specific: Unlike specialized languages (e.g., SQL for databases), GPLs provide a broad set of tools and features that can be adapted to different kinds of problems.
- Flexibility: You can decide what you want to create and the GPL provides building blocks to make it happen.
Key Points for Exam Notes
- Examples:
- Python: User-friendly, great for beginners, widely used across many fields.
- Java: Powerful, platform-independent, popular for enterprise-grade applications.
- C++: Highly performant, used for game development and system programming.
- JavaScript: The language of the web for building interactive websites.
- C#: Used for Windows applications and game development.
Advantages:
- Versatility: Can be used to solve a huge variety of problems.
- Large communities: Lots of resources, support, and libraries available.
- Transferable skills: Learning one GPL often makes it easier to learn others.
Disadvantages:
- Might not be the most optimized for specific tasks: For very specialized areas, domain-specific languages might be more efficient.
- Can have a steeper learning curve: Especially for more complex GPLs like C++.