As language models (LMs) improve at tasks like image generation, trivia questions, and simple math, you might think that ...

To arrive at a language late is to see it without the forgiving haze of sentimentality that comes with imprinting—the fond willingness to overlook a flaw as a quirk. What I saw ...

When I was a young engineer, there was a gruff old programmer named Larry who often imparted his wisdom to us young’uns. A man in his forties, he had that gritty, seen-it-all manner that bespoke years ...

Did you know that, between 1976 and 1978, Microsoft developed its own version of the BASIC programming language? It was initially called Altair BASIC before becoming Microsoft BASIC, and it was ...

Abstract: Spreadsheets are arguably the most used form of programming and are frequently used in higher education to teach fundamental concepts about computation. Their success has shown that they are ...

Every so often, someone creates or changes a programming language. In the process, these language creators make a number of design choices. They may wonder whether to check certain conditions at ...

Some programming languages helped send humans to the moon, some are cooking up new leukemia drugs, and some exist just to fuck with you. Brainfuck is a minimalist “esoteric language,” or “esolang,” ...

March 2025 TIOBE Index: Legacy ‘Dinosaur’ Languages Are Making a Comeback Your email has been sent Legacy programming languages remain vital in modern computing, evolving to stay relevant. Their ...

Across Europe, skills shortages are emerging as a key challenge. The Council of the European Union says this is driven by demographic change, demand for new skillsets, and poor working conditions in ...

Over the past few weeks, we've been discussing programming language popularity here on ZDNET. Most recently, I aggregated data from nine different rankings to produce the ZDNET Index of Programming ...

In brief: Learning a programming language can be tricky, especially for someone new to coding. However, knowing the most popular languages may help some make a critical decision. This choice could ...