Programming Languages to Program for Linux Platform

[indiansoil]

Hi,


What are the programming languages which are frequently and mostly used to program under Linux environment?

I am well familiar with C, C++ and these days I am learning Visual C#. I have installed Python IDE 2.4 & 2.5 also. I don't know anything about Python yet.

So, what do you suggest I should focus on? I am learning Linux on my own. So far, I have learned some of the basic commands that run on the Linux Shell. Now I want to go further and learn Shell scripting.

I have a doubt also. How do Linux programmers earn? I mean, if you have developed a software or program that runs under Linux environment and as it is said that Linux is an Open Source technology so you will have to give out your source codes along with your program in the development of which you invested your time and energy or may be money also, so, how will you get benifited from it?

Dev.

[techieMoe]

Hi,


What are the programming languages which are frequently and mostly used to program under Linux environment?

I am well familiar with C, C++ and these days I am learning Visual C#. I have installed Python IDE 2.4 & 2.5 also. I don't know anything about Python yet.

Probably 90% of the underlying Linux software that the OS relies on (kernel, utilities, daemons) are written in C, and a few in C++. I doubt very seriously you'll find very much C# except in programs that use the Mono framework. Those are by far the minority at this point in time.

I have a doubt also. How do Linux programmers earn? I mean, if you have developed a software or program that runs under Linux environment and as it is said that Linux is an Open Source technology so you will have to give out your source codes along with your program in the development of which you invested your time and energy or may be money also, so, how will you get benifited from it?

Dev.

I can't speak to this from personal experience, but many open-source companies sell services rather than software. Redhat for instance doesn't sell the OS itself. They give that away and charge companies for support contracts. They're doing quite well with that business model.

[daark.child]

In addition to whats been said above, Python is also quite popular. Its used extensively in KDE and GNOME as well as for sysadmin tools like YUM.

[apoorv_khurasia]

It is C++ and C as Moe put it. Perl is another language that I see a lot (Python is quite like Perl and also appears in many places).

I feel most comfortable with C# and Java and find myself quite useless for the GNU/Linux community.

[techieMoe]

I feel most comfortable with C# and Java and find myself quite useless for the GNU/Linux community.

Java works quite well on Linux.

[apoorv_khurasia]

Absolutely. It does run well on Linux. But I don't find many open source Java projects out there to which I can contribute.

[indiansoil]

Hi All,


Thanks for participating.

Well, so, is Python also used for Red Hat and other flavours of Linux OS? I am using Mandrake Linux and Python is already installed along with it.

Any ways, can anybody tell me how to use C/C++ under Linux? I see a tool or an IDE in the Application - > Developmet menu using which I can write C++ codes and run them. But I don't understand why it takes so much process? For example, when I write a program in C++ under Windows all I get is an .obj file after compiling the source file and an .exe file. So, I have three files in total: prog.cpp, prog.obj and prog.exe whereas there are so many folders and files which get created when I start a C++ project under Linux.

And one more thing, which files and folders are required to be included when testing a project on some other machine (in respect of C++ under Linux)?

Cheers!

[apoorv_khurasia]

Python (and for that matter) no language has got anything to do with a particular distribution. It can run on any Linux OS that has the python interpreter available on it (and some people have managed to install interpreters on Mac and Windows also).

What you see in case of C++ are project files and makefiles. You can still do CPP programming the older way (also known as hand-hacking) wherein you write a program using an editor (like vi or xemacs) and compile it using g++ (or anyother compiler of your choice) and writing Makefiles by hand. In case of the IDE keeping track of your source files is easier. Helped by these extra files, the IDE is able to automatically generate a lot of code for you (such as makefiles and header files etc). Don't worry about what these files contain --just concentrate on the source files.

Cheers!

[i92guboj]

Hi,


What are the programming languages which are frequently and mostly used to program under Linux environment?

There's a lot of C, Perl, C++, shell scripts and python (by that order, I think). There are bits of assembler in the kernel as well, though they are of no considerable size. Strictly speaking, "linux" is just the kernel, so, we can say that 99.9% of the linux source is pure C :P

There are multitude of languages though, and a lot of programs in ruby, lisp, scheme, java, etc. etc. Not to count on the full load of different shells available, all of them with their peculiarities in which regards scripting.

So, what do you suggest I should focus on? I am learning Linux on my own. So far, I have learned some of the basic commands that run on the Linux Shell. Now I want to go further and learn Shell scripting.

Well... It's all about tastes I suppose. The advantage on linux is that you have many many options. I'd say that C and shell scripting are the two things that will really make your life a lot easier. Knowing a bit of C++, perl and python doesn't hurt either.

I have a doubt also. How do Linux programmers earn? I mean, if you have developed a software or program that runs under Linux environment and as it is said that Linux is an Open Source technology so you will have to give out your source codes along with your program in the development of which you invested your time and energy or may be money also, so, how will you get benifited from it?

Linux programs don't have to be open source by definition. There's a lot of closed stuff. It all depends on the license of the pieces. If you use gpl stuff, then, derivative works must be glp'd as well. The lesser license (lgpl) is much relaxed in that sense.

Anyway, to answer your question, there's a lot of things you can do to earn money. Linux programmers, usually, sell services, and not precompiled binary files. There's a way to make a living by sponsors as well (some kde programmers do that, I think). You can also license your programs or libs in multiple manners, for example, qt, the trolltech libs that are the foundations for kde, have a multiple licensing model.

A last note: I think that you are starting to depend a bit too much on IDE's and that stuff. If you really want to get in touch with the reality, you should use text editor and write programs the old way. I'd also stay away from java as much as you can. It's just my view of the things though... I might be wrong :P

[apoorv_khurasia]

I will like to quote from the The Pragmatic Programmer

"If you are used to IDEs at your workplace try editors and makefiles at home and vice-versa".

Both teach you something and while editors teach you stuff like "what happens behind the scenes of an IDE", and IDE allows you to focus more on the programming logic.