Selecting a programming language for your project

Since the mandate was dropped that the Ada language had to be used in all DoD projects, software managers have had more freedom to choose which programming language to use on their DoD projects. For most new DoD software projects that need a general purpose high-level language, Ada, C, or C++ are the main contenders, with increasing attention paid to the new language celebrity, Java. Furthermore, multilanguage systems seems to be getting increasingly popular. As a result, companies offer integrated multilanguage programming environments. Although each programming language has its own strengths and weaknesses, the reason for choosing a particular language may ultimately be based on factors having nothing to do with the technical merits of the language itself. Such factors may include the availability of compilers for the host/target, the maturity and efficiency of available compilers, the availability of programmers who already know the language, whether the language can easily interface with existing systems such as graphical user interfaces or data bases, the existence of legacy software written in a specific language, or how well the language fits in with adopted COTS products. A few common misconceptions that may affect the choice of a programming language are listed.