But saying this is not the same as saying it’s equally EASY to create tidy code across different systems or languages.

For instance, if you compare C and C++, the reason that most people would choose C++ over C is that C++ makes it EASIER to describe certain types of higher level structures. And using C++ you usually end up with more compact and more comprehensible programs than if you were using C for solving the same problem.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to create a clean and tidy solution in C for a complex problem. That’s certainly possible. But it’s EASIER to do it in C++, mainly because you have the class construct.

So, I’ll have to disagree with you: Choice of language isn’t irrelevant, even if you’re an experienced programmer.

Elling

Your one of my only readers, so I don’t like telling you that your wrong. But, in this case I need to tell you that your wrong.

C++ and Delphi (I use these everyday) are very easy to mess up when writing complicated programs. I would guess that same for C# and Java (I use them rarely, if ever). I believe its the complexity of the program and experience level of the programmer that determines how messed up the code becomes.

Here’s a couple of easily messed up languages, in my opinion:

Any non-object oriented language
Scheme
Lisp
Java Script
Perl, to a certain extent
Visual Basic, to a certain extent

Harder to mess up languages:
C++
Delphi
C#
Java

Sure, you can write “neat” programs in all of the mentioned languages. But I think, once you start dealing with large and complex structures, you’re LESS likely to mess things up if you use one of the more structured languages suggested.

Elling