programming languages

Rank

Ada vs C

  1. This is a high level language

    87% 13%
    Ada 65 out of 74 picked Ada over C C

  2. If my code in this language successfully compiles, there is a good chance my code is correct.

    81% 19%
    Ada 26 out of 32 picked Ada over C C

  3. Code written in this language tends to be very reliable

    80% 20%
    Ada 57 out of 71 picked Ada over C C

  4. This language is large

    80% 20%
    Ada 61 out of 76 picked Ada over C C

  5. When I write code in this language I can be very sure it is correct

    78% 22%
    Ada 52 out of 66 picked Ada over C C

  6. This language has a strong static type system

    78% 22%
    Ada 64 out of 82 picked Ada over C C

  7. This language encourages writing reusable code.

    75% 25%
    Ada 24 out of 32 picked Ada over C C

  8. This language encourages writing code that is easy to maintain.

    74% 26%
    Ada 26 out of 35 picked Ada over C C

  9. Code written in this language is very readable

    73% 27%
    Ada 51 out of 69 picked Ada over C C

  10. The semantics of this language are much different than other languages I know.

    71% 29%
    Ada 25 out of 35 picked Ada over C C

  11. This language is best for very large projects

    70% 30%
    Ada 50 out of 71 picked Ada over C C

  12. This language excels at concurrency

    70% 30%
    Ada 47 out of 67 picked Ada over C C

  13. Code written in this language tends to be verbose

    69% 31%
    Ada 56 out of 81 picked Ada over C C

  14. This language has a very rigid idea of how things should be done

    67% 33%
    Ada 52 out of 77 picked Ada over C C

  15. I am sometimes embarrassed to admit to my peers that I know this language

    67% 33%
    Ada 41 out of 61 picked Ada over C C

  16. I am reluctant to admit to knowing this language

    65% 35%
    Ada 39 out of 60 picked Ada over C C

  17. This language excels at symbolic manipulation

    64% 36%
    Ada 42 out of 65 picked Ada over C C

  18. This language is expressive

    64% 36%
    Ada 51 out of 79 picked Ada over C C

  19. This language has many features which feel "tacked on"

    64% 36%
    Ada 45 out of 70 picked Ada over C C

  20. This language has a very dogmatic community

    62% 38%
    Ada 35 out of 56 picked Ada over C C

  21. This language has well-organized libraries with consistent, carefully thought-out interfaces

    61% 39%
    Ada 39 out of 63 picked Ada over C C

  22. This language is likely to be a passing fad

    61% 39%
    Ada 37 out of 60 picked Ada over C C

  23. This language has unusual features that I often miss when using other languages

    61% 39%
    Ada 43 out of 70 picked Ada over C C

  24. This language is good for distributed computing

    61% 39%
    Ada 33 out of 54 picked Ada over C C

  25. This language has a very coherent design

    60% 40%
    Ada 40 out of 66 picked Ada over C C

  26. It is easy to tell at a glance what code in this language does

    60% 40%
    Ada 43 out of 71 picked Ada over C C

  27. This language excels at text processing

    58% 42%
    Ada 35 out of 60 picked Ada over C C

  28. I often get angry when writing code in this language

    58% 42%
    Ada 14 out of 24 picked Ada over C C

  29. This language is good for beginners

    57% 43%
    Ada 43 out of 75 picked Ada over C C

  30. This language is well documented

    56% 44%
    Ada 42 out of 74 picked Ada over C C

  31. Learning this language significantly changed how I use other languages.

    55% 45%
    Ada 15 out of 27 picked Ada over C C

  32. This language would be good for teaching children to write software

    55% 45%
    Ada 20 out of 36 picked Ada over C C

  33. I find code written in this language very elegant

    54% 46%
    Ada 39 out of 71 picked Ada over C C

  34. I enjoy playing with this language but would never use it for "real code"

    54% 46%
    Ada 36 out of 66 picked Ada over C C

  35. I rarely have difficulty abstracting patterns I find in my code

    54% 46%
    Ada 33 out of 61 picked Ada over C C

  36. Code written in this language will usually run in all the major implementations if it runs in one of them.

    53% 47%
    Ada 16 out of 30 picked Ada over C C

  37. Learning this language improved my ability as a programmer

    53% 47%
    Ada 34 out of 64 picked Ada over C C

  38. Developers who primarily use this language often burn out after a few years

    51% 49%
    Ada 29 out of 56 picked Ada over C C

  39. This language has a niche outside of which I would not use it

    51% 49%
    Ada 33 out of 64 picked Ada over C C

  40. This language is well suited for an agile development approach using short iterations.

    51% 49%
    Ada 19 out of 37 picked Ada over C C

  41. I would like to write more of this language than I currently do

    50% 50%
    Ada 33 out of 65 picked Ada over C C

  42. I usually use this language on projects with many other members

    50% 50%
    Ada 40 out of 79 picked Ada over C C

  43. I find this language easy to prototype in

    50% 50%
    Ada 43 out of 85 picked Ada over C C

  44. I still discover new features of this language on a fairly regular basis

    50% 50%
    Ada 30 out of 60 each for C and Ada C

  45. This language is suitable for real-time applications

    50% 50%
    Ada 42 out of 84 each for C and Ada C

  46. This language is easier to use for it's problem domain by removing unneeded expressiveness (such as not being Turing complete).

    50% 50%
    Ada 11 out of 22 each for C and Ada C

  47. It is easy to debug programs written in this language when it goes wrong

    47% 53%
    Ada 36 out of 69 picked C over Ada C

  48. I often feel like I am not smart enough to write this language

    47% 53%
    Ada 11 out of 21 picked C over Ada C

  49. This language matches it's problem domain particularly well.

    46% 54%
    Ada 21 out of 39 picked C over Ada C

  50. This language has a good library distribution mechanism.

    46% 54%
    Ada 14 out of 26 picked C over Ada C

  51. This language has a niche in which it is great

    46% 54%
    Ada 41 out of 76 picked C over Ada C

  52. I would use this language for a web project

    45% 55%
    Ada 33 out of 61 picked C over Ada C

  53. This language is likely to have a strong influence on future languages

    44% 56%
    Ada 36 out of 65 picked C over Ada C

  54. Programs written in this language will usually work in future versions of the language

    44% 56%
    Ada 40 out of 72 picked C over Ada C

  55. There is a lot of accidental complexity when writing code in this language

    44% 56%
    Ada 44 out of 79 picked C over Ada C

  56. Writing code in this language is a lot of work

    43% 57%
    Ada 42 out of 75 picked C over Ada C

  57. This language is built on a small core of orthogonal features

    42% 58%
    Ada 36 out of 63 picked C over Ada C

  58. This language is unusually bad for beginners

    42% 58%
    Ada 40 out of 69 picked C over Ada C

  59. This language has a wide variety of agreed-upon conventions, which are generally adhered to reasonably well, and which increase my productivity

    41% 59%
    Ada 40 out of 68 picked C over Ada C

  60. The thought that I may still be using this language in twenty years time fills me with dread

    40% 60%
    Ada 48 out of 81 picked C over Ada C

  61. I use a lot of code written in this language which I really don't want to have to make changes to

    40% 60%
    Ada 12 out of 20 picked C over Ada C

  62. The resources for learning this language are of high quality

    39% 61%
    Ada 44 out of 73 picked C over Ada C

  63. I enjoy using this language

    39% 61%
    Ada 49 out of 81 picked C over Ada C

  64. I would use this language for writing server programs

    39% 61%
    Ada 43 out of 71 picked C over Ada C

  65. This language has an annoying syntax

    39% 61%
    Ada 25 out of 41 picked C over Ada C

  66. I use this language out of choice

    38% 62%
    Ada 44 out of 72 picked C over Ada C

  67. If this language didn't exist, I would have trouble finding a satisfactory replacement

    38% 62%
    Ada 41 out of 67 picked C over Ada C

  68. This language is good for scientific computing

    37% 63%
    Ada 42 out of 67 picked C over Ada C

  69. This language is very flexible

    36% 64%
    Ada 42 out of 66 picked C over Ada C

  70. This language is good for numeric computing

    35% 65%
    Ada 43 out of 67 picked C over Ada C

  71. This language has a high quality implementation

    35% 65%
    Ada 20 out of 31 picked C over Ada C

  72. I would recommend most programmers learn this language, regardless of whether they have a specific need for it

    34% 66%
    Ada 27 out of 41 picked C over Ada C

  73. I often write things in this language with the intent of rewriting them in something else later

    33% 67%
    Ada 39 out of 59 picked C over Ada C

  74. When I run into problems my colleagues can provide me with immediate help with this language

    33% 67%
    Ada 47 out of 71 picked C over Ada C

  75. I would use this language for casual scripting

    33% 67%
    Ada 51 out of 77 picked C over Ada C

  76. I would use this language for a desktop GUI project

    31% 69%
    Ada 47 out of 69 picked C over Ada C

  77. I would use this language to write a command-line app

    31% 69%
    Ada 45 out of 66 picked C over Ada C

  78. I can imagine using this language in my day job

    30% 70%
    Ada 47 out of 68 picked C over Ada C

  79. This language has a good community

    30% 70%
    Ada 52 out of 75 picked C over Ada C

  80. I would list this language on my resume

    29% 71%
    Ada 61 out of 87 picked C over Ada C

  81. Programs written in this language tend to play well with others

    29% 71%
    Ada 47 out of 67 picked C over Ada C

  82. I would use this language as a scripting language embedded inside a larger application

    29% 71%
    Ada 50 out of 71 picked C over Ada C

  83. Libraries in this language tend to be well documented.

    27% 73%
    Ada 27 out of 37 picked C over Ada C

  84. I find it easy to write efficient code in this language

    26% 74%
    Ada 57 out of 78 picked C over Ada C

  85. Code written in this language tends to be terse

    26% 74%
    Ada 52 out of 71 picked C over Ada C

  86. I usually use this language on solo projects

    26% 74%
    Ada 50 out of 68 picked C over Ada C

  87. I would use this language for mobile applications

    26% 74%
    Ada 53 out of 72 picked C over Ada C

  88. I can imagine this will be a popular language in twenty years time

    25% 75%
    Ada 57 out of 76 picked C over Ada C

  89. It is too easy to write code in this language that looks like it does one thing but actually does something else

    24% 76%
    Ada 46 out of 61 picked C over Ada C

  90. This language is frequently used for applications it isn't suitable for

    22% 78%
    Ada 46 out of 59 picked C over Ada C

  91. This language is minimal

    21% 79%
    Ada 57 out of 73 picked C over Ada C

  92. This language is best for very small projects

    21% 79%
    Ada 47 out of 60 picked C over Ada C

  93. I know many other people who use this language

    21% 79%
    Ada 48 out of 61 picked C over Ada C

  94. This language is likely to be around for a very long time

    20% 80%
    Ada 53 out of 67 picked C over Ada C

  95. There are many good open-source tools for this language

    20% 80%
    Ada 55 out of 69 picked C over Ada C

  96. It's unusual for me to discover unfamiliar features

    19% 81%
    Ada 49 out of 61 picked C over Ada C

  97. I would use this language for writing programs for an embedded hardware platform

    19% 81%
    Ada 59 out of 73 picked C over Ada C

  98. Third-party libraries are readily available, well-documented, and of high quality

    19% 81%
    Ada 55 out of 68 picked C over Ada C

  99. I regularly use this language

    18% 82%
    Ada 56 out of 69 picked C over Ada C

  100. There are many good commercial tools for this language

    17% 83%
    Ada 56 out of 68 picked C over Ada C

  101. Programs written in this language tend to be efficient

    17% 83%
    Ada 63 out of 76 picked C over Ada C

  102. There is a wide variety of open source code written in this language

    16% 84%
    Ada 55 out of 66 picked C over Ada C

  103. This language allows me to write programs where I know exactly what they are doing under the hood

    16% 84%
    Ada 60 out of 72 picked C over Ada C

  104. I know this language well

    15% 85%
    Ada 514 out of 611 picked C over Ada C

  105. There are many good tools for this language

    15% 85%
    Ada 62 out of 73 picked C over Ada C

  106. This is a low level language

    12% 88%
    Ada 65 out of 74 picked C over Ada C

  107. I learned this language early in my career as a programmer

    10% 90%
    Ada 26 out of 29 picked C over Ada C

  108. I use many applications written in this language

    9% 91%
    Ada 72 out of 80 picked C over Ada C

  109. This is a mainstream language

    6% 94%
    Ada 31 out of 33 picked C over Ada C

  110. This language makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot

    5% 95%
    Ada 54 out of 57 picked C over Ada C

  111. I would use this language for writing embedded programs

    100%
    Ada 7 out of 7 picked C over Ada C

What's going on here?

The absolute rankings are interesting for large scale comparisons but when you want to know about two specific languages it's much more informative to look at how the two fare when they go directly head to head.

Here are all the statements which we've got enough comparisons between Ada and C to be meaningful and which of the two our users picked.

The order in which we're presenting them is a little arbitrary (sorry), but we've tried to put the things which they're both good at first so as to give you the most interesting picture of it.