programming languages

Rank

C vs Fortran

  1. This is a mainstream language

    94% 6%
    C 66 out of 70 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  2. I use many applications written in this language

    91% 9%
    C 132 out of 144 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    91% 9%
    C 116 out of 127 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    91% 9%
    C 124 out of 136 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  5. This language is suitable for real-time applications

    90% 10%
    C 118 out of 130 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  6. I would use this language for writing server programs

    88% 12%
    C 115 out of 130 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    87% 13%
    C 70 out of 80 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  8. I would use this language for a web project

    87% 13%
    C 112 out of 128 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    87% 13%
    C 117 out of 134 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  10. I regularly use this language

    84% 16%
    C 134 out of 158 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  11. There are many good tools for this language

    84% 16%
    C 119 out of 141 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    84% 16%
    C 95 out of 113 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    83% 17%
    C 128 out of 153 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  14. This language has a high quality implementation

    83% 17%
    C 50 out of 60 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  15. I would list this language on my resume

    82% 18%
    C 120 out of 145 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  16. This is a low level language

    82% 18%
    C 110 out of 133 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  17. I know this language well

    82% 18%
    C 849 out of 1027 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  18. This language is very flexible

    82% 18%
    C 98 out of 119 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    82% 18%
    C 101 out of 123 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  20. I would use this language for mobile applications

    81% 19%
    C 111 out of 137 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  21. I would use this language for writing embedded programs

    80% 20%
    C 17 out of 21 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    80% 20%
    C 73 out of 91 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  23. Learning this language improved my ability as a programmer

    79% 21%
    C 114 out of 143 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  24. There are many good commercial tools for this language

    79% 21%
    C 105 out of 132 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  25. I usually use this language on solo projects

    79% 21%
    C 106 out of 134 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    78% 22%
    C 97 out of 123 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  27. I know many other people who use this language

    78% 22%
    C 103 out of 131 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    77% 23%
    C 93 out of 120 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    77% 23%
    C 103 out of 133 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    77% 23%
    C 85 out of 110 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    76% 24%
    C 106 out of 138 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  32. I enjoy using this language

    76% 24%
    C 105 out of 138 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  33. This language excels at text processing

    75% 25%
    C 103 out of 136 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  34. I use this language out of choice

    75% 25%
    C 93 out of 123 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    75% 25%
    C 93 out of 123 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    75% 25%
    C 104 out of 138 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    74% 26%
    C 88 out of 118 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  38. This language has a good community

    74% 26%
    C 97 out of 131 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    74% 26%
    C 94 out of 127 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    73% 27%
    C 91 out of 123 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  41. This language excels at symbolic manipulation

    73% 27%
    C 90 out of 122 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  42. This language encourages writing reusable code.

    73% 27%
    C 42 out of 57 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    73% 27%
    C 95 out of 129 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  44. This language has a good library distribution mechanism.

    73% 27%
    C 39 out of 53 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    72% 28%
    C 83 out of 115 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  46. This language is best for very large projects

    72% 28%
    C 83 out of 115 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  47. I would use this language for casual scripting

    71% 29%
    C 99 out of 138 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    71% 29%
    C 76 out of 106 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    71% 29%
    C 80 out of 112 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    70% 30%
    C 43 out of 61 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  51. This language is minimal

    70% 30%
    C 89 out of 127 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  52. This language is well documented

    69% 31%
    C 90 out of 130 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    69% 31%
    C 83 out of 120 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  54. Code written in this language tends to be terse

    68% 32%
    C 95 out of 138 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  55. I find code written in this language very elegant

    68% 32%
    C 95 out of 138 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    68% 32%
    C 90 out of 131 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  57. This language is best for very small projects

    68% 32%
    C 77 out of 113 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    68% 32%
    C 47 out of 69 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    67% 33%
    C 37 out of 55 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  60. This language has a very coherent design

    66% 34%
    C 85 out of 127 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  61. I find this language easy to prototype in

    66% 34%
    C 82 out of 123 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    66% 34%
    C 79 out of 119 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    66% 34%
    C 77 out of 116 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  64. This language is good for distributed computing

    66% 34%
    C 73 out of 110 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    66% 34%
    C 47 out of 71 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  66. This language is expressive

    64% 36%
    C 83 out of 129 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    63% 37%
    C 85 out of 133 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    63% 37%
    C 86 out of 135 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    63% 37%
    C 65 out of 103 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    62% 38%
    C 69 out of 110 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  71. Programs written in this language tend to be efficient

    62% 38%
    C 81 out of 130 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    61% 39%
    C 32 out of 52 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    60% 40%
    C 80 out of 133 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    59% 41%
    C 69 out of 116 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    59% 41%
    C 77 out of 130 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  76. This language excels at concurrency

    59% 41%
    C 68 out of 115 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  77. This language is good for beginners

    58% 42%
    C 81 out of 139 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  78. This language is unusually bad for beginners

    57% 43%
    C 83 out of 144 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    56% 44%
    C 25 out of 44 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    56% 44%
    C 79 out of 140 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    55% 45%
    C 38 out of 68 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  82. Code written in this language is very readable

    55% 45%
    C 72 out of 130 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    54% 46%
    C 43 out of 79 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

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

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

    53% 47%
    C 65 out of 121 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    52% 48%
    C 21 out of 40 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    51% 49%
    C 56 out of 108 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  88. This language has a strong static type system

    51% 49%
    C 74 out of 144 picked C over Fortran Fortran

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

    51% 49%
    C 21 out of 41 picked C over Fortran Fortran

  90. This language has a very dogmatic community

    49% 51%
    C 57 out of 113 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    48% 52%
    C 80 out of 154 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    45% 55%
    C 67 out of 123 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  93. This language is large

    44% 56%
    C 69 out of 124 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  94. Code written in this language tends to be verbose

    44% 56%
    C 69 out of 124 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    44% 56%
    C 39 out of 70 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    43% 57%
    C 33 out of 58 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    42% 58%
    C 81 out of 142 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  98. This language is likely to be a passing fad

    42% 58%
    C 64 out of 111 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    42% 58%
    C 67 out of 116 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  100. This is a high level language

    42% 58%
    C 84 out of 145 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    35% 65%
    C 85 out of 132 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    34% 66%
    C 84 out of 129 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  103. This language has an annoying syntax

    32% 68%
    C 45 out of 67 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    32% 68%
    C 29 out of 43 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    30% 70%
    C 45 out of 65 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  106. This language is good for scientific computing

    30% 70%
    C 104 out of 149 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    30% 70%
    C 74 out of 106 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    28% 72%
    C 102 out of 142 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  109. This language is good for numeric computing

    24% 76%
    C 112 out of 149 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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

    18% 82%
    C 112 out of 138 picked Fortran over C Fortran

  111. I am reluctant to admit to knowing this language

    16% 84%
    C 100 out of 120 picked Fortran over C Fortran

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 C and Fortran 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.