Overview

C++ is a general-purpose programming language. C++ is regarded as a mid-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, usually compiled language supporting procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming.

Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++ in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and named it "C with Classes". In 1983 it was renamed to C++. Enhancements started with the addition of classes, followed by, among other features, virtual functions, operator overloading, multiple inheritance, templates, and exception handling. The C++ programming language standard was ratified in 1998 as ISO/IEC 14882:1998, the current version of which is the 2003 version, ISO/IEC 14882:2003. A new version of the standard (known informally as C++0x) is being developed.

History

Stroustrup began work on C with classes in 1979.Stroustrup's experience in programming,helped in originated when he was doing his Ph.D thesis.He then discovered Simula for further software development but it was too slow and BCPL was too low levelfor larger software development.With his Ph.D experience,he enhanced the C language with Simula.C was then chosen for its wide usage.Besides C n simula,a few more languages that inspired him are ALGOL68,Ada,CLU and ML.The first commercial release occurred in October 1985.

The language was then changed from C to C++ during 1983.Virtual Functions,operator overloading,user-controlled free-store memory control, BCPL style single-line comments with two forward slashes (//) and improved type checking were added.In 1985, the first edition of The C++ Programming Language was released, providing an important reference to the language, since there was not yet an official standard.The new additions were including multipleinheritance,static member functions,const member functions and protected members.The Annotated C++ Reference Manual was later on published.Later additions then feature templates,exceptions,namespaces new casts and a Boolean type.

As the C++ language evolved,a standard library also evolved with it.The addition to the library includes facilities such as printf and scanfr.The most significant addition,the Standard Template Library.

After years of research and work, a joint ANSI?ISO was standardized in 1998.The committee then processed defect reports and published the corrected version in 2003.In 2005 the “Library Technical Report 1” was released.A number of extensions were included to the next C++.The C++ is language royalty-free but the standard document itself is not freely available.

Features

The Design and Evolution of C++ (1994), Bjarne Stroustrup describes some rules that he uses for the design of C++:

- C++ is designed to be a statically typed, general-purpose language that is as efficient and portable as C

- C++ is designed to directly and comprehensively support multiple programming styles (procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming)

-C++ is designed to give the programmer choice, even if this makes it possible for the programmer to choose incorrectly

-C++ is designed to be as compatible with C as possible, therefore providing a smooth transition from C

-C++ avoids features that are platform specific or not general purpose

-C++ does not incur overhead for features that are not used (the "zero-overhead principle")

-C++ is designed to function without a sophisticated programming environment Inside the C++ Object Model (Lippman, 1996) describes how compilers may convert C++ program statements into an in-memory layout. Compiler authors are, however, free to implement the standard in their own manner.

Overview

Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes programmer productivity and code readability. Python's core syntax and semantics are minimalist, while the standard library is large and comprehensive.

Python supports multiple programming paradigms (primarily functional, object oriented and imperative), and features a fully dynamic type system and automatic memory management; it is thus similar to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, and Tcl. Python was first released by Guido van Rossum in 1991. The language has an open, community-based development model managed by the non-profit Python Software Foundation. While various parts of the language have formal specifications and standards, the language as a whole is not formally specified.

History

Guido Van Rossum discovered the Python in the Netherlands and he was a successor of the ABC programming language and it is interfacing the Amoeba operating system.Van Rossum is the Python's author and his central role in deciding the direction of Python acknowledged him as the Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL). Rossum published the code in 1991 to alt.sources.Classes that were present in this stage were inheritance,exception handling,functions and the core data types of list,dict,str and so on.In the system Modula-3,Van Rosssum described the module as one of Python's major programming units.

Python's version reached 1.0 in January 1994.This version includes programming tools such as lambda,map,filter and reduce.Python acquired lambda and the other tools by “a Lisp hacked who missed them and submitted working patches”.

The last version released from CWI was Python 1.2. In 1995, van Rossum continued his work on Python at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) in Reston, Virginia where he released several versions of the software.

By version 1.4,new features were added by Python.Notable among these are Modula-3 insipired keyword arguments and built-in support for complex numbers.A basic form of data hiding by name mangling is added too but it can be easily bypassed. In 2000, the Python core development team moved to BeOpen.com to form the BeOpen PythonLabs.team.Version 1.6 was requsted by CNRI to be released to summarize Python's development up to the point where the team eleft CNRI.Python 2.0 was then released first under BeOpen.com.After that Guido van Rossum and other PythonLabs then joined Digital Creations.

Python 2.0 the borrowed a major featrure from SETL and Haskell(programming languages).Python's syntax is very similar to Haskell's and Python 2.0 then introduced a garbage collection capable of collecting reference cycles.

Python 2.1 was also a derivative work from Python 1.6.1,so was ver.2.0.The software was then named Python Software Foundation License.When Python 2.1's alpha release,Python Software Foundation (PSF),a non-profit organization modeled the Apache Software Foundation.This release included change of languages. Python's standard library additions and syntactical choices were strongly influenced by Java in some cases: the logging package, introduced in version 2.3, the SAX parser, introduced in 2.0, and the decorator syntax that uses @, added in version 2.4.

Usage

Some of the largest projects that use Python are the Zope application server, the Mnet distributed file store, YouTube, and the original BitTorrent client.Large organizations that use Python are Google and NASA.Python is also used in security industry. in several of the tools offered by Immunity Security, in several of the tools offered by Core Security, in the Web application security scanner Wapiti, and in the fuzzer TAOF.Python is also embedded in a number of software in exploit development.It is also used in 3D animation packages as in Maya, Softimage XSI, TrueSpace, Modo, Nuke and Blender.It is also used in Civilization IV and MMORPG games are built using Python.

Python is a standard component with most Linux distributions with NetBSD and OpenBSD and with Mac OS X. Red Hat Linux and Fedora use the pythonic Anaconda. Gentoo Linux uses Python in its package management system, Portage, and the standard tool to access it, emerge. Pardus uses it for administration and during system boot.

Overview

Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun's Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode which can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture. The original and reference implementation Java compilers, virtual machines, and class libraries were developed by Sun from 1995. As of May 2007, in compliance with the specifications of the Java Community Process, Sun made available most of their Java technologies as free software under the GNU General Public License. Others have also developed alternative implementations of these Sun technologies, such as the GNU Compiler for Java and GNU Classpath.

History

The Java language has undergone several changes since JDK 1.0 as well as numerous additions of classes and packages to the standard library. Since J2SE 1.4, the evolution of the Java language has been governed by the Java Community Process (JCP), which uses Java Specification Requests (JSRs) to propose and specify additions and changes to the Java platform. The language is specified by the Java Language Specification (JLS); changes to the JLS are managed under JSR 901.

In addition to the language changes, much more dramatic changes have been made to the Java class library over the years, which has grown from a few hundred classes in JDK 1.0 to over three thousand in J2SE 5.0. Entire new APIs, such as Swing and Java2D, have been introduced, and many of the original JDK 1.0 classes and methods have been deprecated.

Initial release
JDK 1.1 (February 19, 1997)

Major additions included:
• an extensive retooling of the AWT event model
• inner classes added to the language
• JavaBeans
• JDBC
• RMI

J2SE 1.2 (December 8, 1998)

Codename Playground. This and subsequent releases through J2SE 5.0 were rebranded retrospectively Java 2 and the version name "J2SE" (Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition) replaced JDK to distinguish the base platform from J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) and J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition). Major additions included:

• strictfp keyword

• Reflection which supports Introspection only, no modification at runtime possible.

• the Swing graphical API was integrated into the core classes

• Sun's JVM was equipped with a JIT compiler for the first time

• Java Plug-in

• Java IDL, an IDL implementation for CORBA interoperability

• Collections framework

J2SE 1.3 (May 8, 2000)

Codename Kestrel. The most notable changes were:

• HotSpot JVM included (the HotSpot JVM was first released in April, 1999 for the J2SE 1.2 JVM)

• RMI was modified to support optional compatibility with CORBA

• JavaSound

• Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) included in core libraries (previously available as an extension)

• Java Platform Debugger Architecture (JPDA)

J2SE 1.4 (February 6, 2002)

Codename Merlin. This was the first release of the Java platform developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 59. Major changes included:

• Assert keyword (Specified in JSR 41.)

• regular expressions modelled after Perl regular expressions

• exception chaining allows an exception to encapsulate original lower-level exception

• Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support

• Non-blocking NIO (New Input/Output) (Specified in JSR 51.)

• Logging API (Specified in JSR 47.)

• image I/O API for reading and writing images in formats like JPEG and PNG

• Integrated XML parser and XSLT processor (JAXP) (Specified in JSR 5 and JSR 63.)

• integrated security and cryptography extensions (JCE, JSSE, JAAS)

• Java Web Start included (Java Web Start was first released in March, 2001 for J2SE 1.3)

J2SE 5.0 (September 30, 2004)

Codename Tiger. (Originally numbered 1.5, which is still used as the internal version number. Developed under JSR 176, Tiger added a number of significant new language features:

• Generics: Provides compile-time (static) type safety for collections and eliminates the need for most typecasts (type conversion). (Specified by JSR 14.)

• Metadata: Also called annotations, allows language constructs such as classes and methods to be tagged with additional data, which can then be processed by metadata-aware utilities. (Specified by JSR 175.)

• Autoboxing/unboxing: Automatic conversions between primitive types (such as int) and primitive wrapper classes (such as Integer). (Specified by JSR 201.)

• Enumerations: The enum keyword creates a typesafe, ordered list of values (such as Day.MONDAY, Day.TUESDAY, etc.). Previously this could only be achieved by non-typesafe constant integers or manually constructed classes (typesafe enum pattern). (Specified by JSR 201.)

• Swing: New skinnable look and feel, called synth.

• Varargs: The last parameter of a method can now be declared using a type name followed by three dots (e.g. void draw text (String... lines)). In the calling code any number of parameters of that type can be used and they are then placed in an array to be passed to the method, or alternatively the calling code can pass an array of that type.

• Fix the previously broken semantics of the Java Memory Model, which defines how threads interact through memory.

• Automatic stub generation for RMI objects.

Java SE 6 (December 11, 2006)

Codename Mustang. This was developed under JSR 270. During the development phase, new builds including enhancements and bug fixes were released approximately weekly. Beta versions were released in February and June 2006, leading up to a final release that occurred on December 11, 2006. Updates 2 and 3 were released during 2007. Updates 4 and 5 have been released in 2008.

Release nomenclature

As of this version, Sun replaced the name "J2SE" with Java SE and dropped the ".0" from the version number. Internal numbering for developers remains 1.6.0.

Major changes

Major changes included in this version:

• Support for older Win9x versions dropped. The last version for Win98 is 1.5.0.13.

• Scripting Language Support (JSR 223): Generic API for tight integration with scripting languages, and built-in Mozilla Javascript Rhino integration

• Dramatic performance improvements for the core platform, and Swing.

• Improved Web Service support through JAX-WS (JSR 224)

• JDBC 4.0 support (JSR 221).

• Java Compiler API (JSR 199): an API allowing a Java program to select and invoke a Java Compiler programmatically.

• Upgrade of JAXB to version 2.0: Including integration of a StAX parser.

• Support for pluggable annotations (JSR 269).

• Many GUI improvements, such as integration of SwingWorker in the API, table sorting and filtering, and true Swing double-buffering (eliminating the gray-area effect).

Java SE 7

Codename Dolphin. This is in the early planning and development stages. The Dolphin Project started up in August 2006, with release estimated in 2008. New builds including enhancements and bug fixes are released approximately weekly. New features that may be integrated in Java 7 comprise:

• JVM support for dynamic languages, following the prototyping work currently done on the Multi Language Virtual Machine,

• A new library for parallel computing on Multi-core processors,

• Super packages (JSR 294), which are a way to define explicitly in a library or module which classes will be visible from outside of the library,

• Swing Application Framework, an infrastructure common to most desktop applications, making Swing applications easier to create.

Also, there is an ongoing debate in the Java community on whether it would be appropriate to add a built-in support for closures.

Overview

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a computer scripting language, originally designed for producing dynamic web pages. It is mainly used in server-side scripting, but can be used from a command line interface or in standalone graphical applications.

While PHP was originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, the main implementation of PHP is now produced by The PHP Group and serves as the de facto standard for PHP as there is no formal specification. Released under the PHP License, the Free Software Foundation considers it to be free software. PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. It generally runs on a web server, taking PHP code as its input and creating web pages as output. It can be deployed on most web servers and on almost every operating system and platform free of charge. PHP is installed on more than 20 million websites and 1 million servers, although the number of websites with PHP installed has declined since August 2005. It is also the most popular Apache module among computers using Apache as a web server. The most recent major release of PHP was version 5.2.0 on November 2, 2006.

History

PHP began as a set of Common Gateway Interface binaries written in the C programming language in 1994 by the Danish/Greenlandic programmer Rasmus Lerdorf. Lerdorf initially created these Personal Home Page Tools to replace a small set of Perl scripts he had been using to maintain his personal homepage. The tools were originally created to perform tasks such as displaying his rιsumι and recording how much traffic his page was receiving. He combined these binaries with his Form Interpreter to create PHP/FI, which had more functionality. It included a larger C implementation which could communicate with databases and helped build simple, dynamic web applications. He released PHP publicly on June 8, 1995 to speed up the finding of bugs and improving the code. This release was named PHP version 2, and already had basic functionality that PHP has today. This includes Perl-like variables, form handling, and the ability to embed HTML. The syntax was similar to Perl but was more limited, simpler, and less consistent.

Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans, two Israeli developers at the Technion IIT, rewrote the parser in 1997 and formed the base of PHP 3, changing the language's name to the recursive initialism PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. The development team officially released PHP/FI 2 in November 1997 after months of beta testing. Afterwards, public testing of PHP 3 began, and the official launch came in June 1998. Suraski and Gutmans then started a new rewrite of PHP's core, producing the Zend Engine in 1999. They also founded Zend Technologies in Ramat Gan, Israel, which manages the development of PHP.

On May 22, 2000, PHP 4, powered by the Zend Engine 1.0, was released. On July 13, 2004, PHP 5 was released and is powered by the new Zend Engine II. PHP 5 included new features such as improved support for object-oriented programming, the PHP Data Objects extension (which defines a lightweight and consistent interface for accessing databases), and numerous performance enhancements. The most recent update released by The PHP Group is for the older PHP version 4 code branch. As of January 2008, this branch is up to version 4.4.8. PHP 4 will be supported by security updates until August 8, 2008.

PHP 5 is the only stable version still being developed. Late static binding has been missing from PHP and will be added in version 5.3. Development on PHP 4 ceased at the end of 2007, except for the critical security updates for PHP 4 already mentioned. PHP 6 is now under development and major changes include the removal of register_globals, magic quotes, and safe mode. PHP does not have complete native support for Unicode or multibyte strings; Unicode support will be added in PHP 6. Many high profile open source projects ceased to support PHP 4 in new code as of February 5, 2008, due to the GoPHP5 initiative, provided by a consortium of PHP developers promoting the transition from PHP 4 to PHP 5.

Usage

PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development. It is the fourth most popular computer programming language, ranking behind Java, C, and Visual Basic. PHP generally runs on a web server, taking PHP code as its input and creating web pages as output. It can also be used for command-line scripting and client-side GUI applications. PHP can be deployed on most web servers, many operating systems and platforms, and can be used with many relational database management systems. It is available free of charge, and The PHP Group provides the complete source code for users to build, customize and extend for their own use. As of April, 2007 over 20 million Internet domains were hosted on servers with PHP installed.

PHP primarily acts as a filter. The PHP program takes input from a file (usually HTML) or stream containing text and special PHP instructions and outputs another stream of data for display. From PHP 4 on the PHP parser compiles input to produce bytecode for processing by the Zend Engine, giving improved performance over its interpreter predecessor.

Originally designed to create dynamic web pages, PHP's principal focus is server-side scripting. While running the PHP parser with a web server and web browser, the PHP model can be compared to other server-side scripting languages such as Microsoft's ASP.NET system, Sun Microsystems' JavaServer Pages, and mod_perl as they provide dynamic content to the client from a web server. To more directly compete with the "framework" approach taken by these systems, Zend is working on the Zend Framework - an emerging set of PHP building blocks and best practices; other PHP frameworks along the same lines include CakePHP, PRADO and Symfony. The LAMP architecture has become popular in the web industry as a way of deploying web applications. PHP is commonly used as the P in this bundle alongside Linux, Apache and MySQL, although the P can also refer to Python or Perl. PHP is the most popular Apache module.