programming languages

Rank

Fortran vs C

  1. I am reluctant to admit to knowing this language

    83% 17%
    Fortran 100 out of 120 picked Fortran over C C

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

    81% 19%
    Fortran 112 out of 138 picked Fortran over C C

  3. This language is good for numeric computing

    75% 25%
    Fortran 112 out of 149 picked Fortran over C C

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

    71% 29%
    Fortran 102 out of 142 picked Fortran over C C

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

    69% 31%
    Fortran 74 out of 106 picked Fortran over C C

  6. This language is good for scientific computing

    69% 31%
    Fortran 104 out of 149 picked Fortran over C C

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

    69% 31%
    Fortran 45 out of 65 picked Fortran over C C

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

    67% 33%
    Fortran 29 out of 43 picked Fortran over C C

  9. This language has an annoying syntax

    67% 33%
    Fortran 45 out of 67 picked Fortran over C C

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

    65% 35%
    Fortran 84 out of 129 picked Fortran over C C

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

    64% 36%
    Fortran 85 out of 132 picked Fortran over C C

  12. This is a high level language

    57% 43%
    Fortran 84 out of 145 picked Fortran over C C

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

    57% 43%
    Fortran 67 out of 116 picked Fortran over C C

  14. This language is likely to be a passing fad

    57% 43%
    Fortran 64 out of 111 picked Fortran over C C

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

    57% 43%
    Fortran 81 out of 142 picked Fortran over C C

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

    56% 44%
    Fortran 33 out of 58 picked Fortran over C C

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

    55% 45%
    Fortran 39 out of 70 picked Fortran over C C

  18. This language is large

    55% 45%
    Fortran 69 out of 124 picked Fortran over C C

  19. Code written in this language tends to be verbose

    55% 45%
    Fortran 69 out of 124 picked Fortran over C C

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

    54% 46%
    Fortran 67 out of 123 picked Fortran over C C

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

    51% 49%
    Fortran 80 out of 154 picked Fortran over C C

  22. This language has a very dogmatic community

    50% 50%
    Fortran 57 out of 113 picked Fortran over C C

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

    48% 52%
    Fortran 21 out of 41 picked C over Fortran C

  24. This language has a strong static type system

    48% 52%
    Fortran 74 out of 144 picked C over Fortran C

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

    48% 52%
    Fortran 56 out of 108 picked C over Fortran C

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

    47% 53%
    Fortran 21 out of 40 picked C over Fortran C

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

    46% 54%
    Fortran 65 out of 121 picked C over Fortran C

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

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

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

    45% 55%
    Fortran 43 out of 79 picked C over Fortran C

  30. Code written in this language is very readable

    44% 56%
    Fortran 72 out of 130 picked C over Fortran C

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

    44% 56%
    Fortran 38 out of 68 picked C over Fortran C

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

    43% 57%
    Fortran 79 out of 140 picked C over Fortran C

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

    43% 57%
    Fortran 25 out of 44 picked C over Fortran C

  34. This language is unusually bad for beginners

    42% 58%
    Fortran 83 out of 144 picked C over Fortran C

  35. This language is good for beginners

    41% 59%
    Fortran 81 out of 139 picked C over Fortran C

  36. This language excels at concurrency

    40% 60%
    Fortran 68 out of 115 picked C over Fortran C

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

    40% 60%
    Fortran 77 out of 130 picked C over Fortran C

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

    40% 60%
    Fortran 69 out of 116 picked C over Fortran C

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

    39% 61%
    Fortran 80 out of 133 picked C over Fortran C

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

    38% 62%
    Fortran 32 out of 52 picked C over Fortran C

  41. Programs written in this language tend to be efficient

    37% 63%
    Fortran 81 out of 130 picked C over Fortran C

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

    37% 63%
    Fortran 69 out of 110 picked C over Fortran C

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

    36% 64%
    Fortran 65 out of 103 picked C over Fortran C

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

    36% 64%
    Fortran 86 out of 135 picked C over Fortran C

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

    36% 64%
    Fortran 85 out of 133 picked C over Fortran C

  46. This language is expressive

    35% 65%
    Fortran 83 out of 129 picked C over Fortran C

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

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

  48. This language is good for distributed computing

    33% 67%
    Fortran 73 out of 110 picked C over Fortran C

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

    33% 67%
    Fortran 77 out of 116 picked C over Fortran C

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

    33% 67%
    Fortran 79 out of 119 picked C over Fortran C

  51. I find this language easy to prototype in

    33% 67%
    Fortran 82 out of 123 picked C over Fortran C

  52. This language has a very coherent design

    33% 67%
    Fortran 85 out of 127 picked C over Fortran C

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

    32% 68%
    Fortran 37 out of 55 picked C over Fortran C

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

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

  55. This language is best for very small projects

    31% 69%
    Fortran 77 out of 113 picked C over Fortran C

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

    31% 69%
    Fortran 90 out of 131 picked C over Fortran C

  57. I find code written in this language very elegant

    31% 69%
    Fortran 95 out of 138 picked C over Fortran C

  58. Code written in this language tends to be terse

    31% 69%
    Fortran 95 out of 138 picked C over Fortran C

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

    30% 70%
    Fortran 83 out of 120 picked C over Fortran C

  60. This language is well documented

    30% 70%
    Fortran 90 out of 130 picked C over Fortran C

  61. This language is minimal

    29% 71%
    Fortran 89 out of 127 picked C over Fortran C

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

    29% 71%
    Fortran 43 out of 61 picked C over Fortran C

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

    28% 72%
    Fortran 80 out of 112 picked C over Fortran C

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

    28% 72%
    Fortran 76 out of 106 picked C over Fortran C

  65. I would use this language for casual scripting

    28% 72%
    Fortran 99 out of 138 picked C over Fortran C

  66. This language is best for very large projects

    27% 73%
    Fortran 83 out of 115 picked C over Fortran C

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

    27% 73%
    Fortran 83 out of 115 picked C over Fortran C

  68. This language has a good library distribution mechanism.

    26% 74%
    Fortran 39 out of 53 picked C over Fortran C

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

    26% 74%
    Fortran 95 out of 129 picked C over Fortran C

  70. This language encourages writing reusable code.

    26% 74%
    Fortran 42 out of 57 picked C over Fortran C

  71. This language excels at symbolic manipulation

    26% 74%
    Fortran 90 out of 122 picked C over Fortran C

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

    26% 74%
    Fortran 91 out of 123 picked C over Fortran C

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

    25% 75%
    Fortran 94 out of 127 picked C over Fortran C

  74. This language has a good community

    25% 75%
    Fortran 97 out of 131 picked C over Fortran C

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

    25% 75%
    Fortran 88 out of 118 picked C over Fortran C

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

    24% 76%
    Fortran 104 out of 138 picked C over Fortran C

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

    24% 76%
    Fortran 93 out of 123 picked C over Fortran C

  78. I use this language out of choice

    24% 76%
    Fortran 93 out of 123 picked C over Fortran C

  79. This language excels at text processing

    24% 76%
    Fortran 103 out of 136 picked C over Fortran C

  80. I enjoy using this language

    23% 77%
    Fortran 105 out of 138 picked C over Fortran C

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

    23% 77%
    Fortran 106 out of 138 picked C over Fortran C

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

    22% 78%
    Fortran 85 out of 110 picked C over Fortran C

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

    22% 78%
    Fortran 103 out of 133 picked C over Fortran C

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

    22% 78%
    Fortran 93 out of 120 picked C over Fortran C

  85. I know many other people who use this language

    21% 79%
    Fortran 103 out of 131 picked C over Fortran C

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

    21% 79%
    Fortran 97 out of 123 picked C over Fortran C

  87. I usually use this language on solo projects

    20% 80%
    Fortran 106 out of 134 picked C over Fortran C

  88. There are many good commercial tools for this language

    20% 80%
    Fortran 105 out of 132 picked C over Fortran C

  89. Learning this language improved my ability as a programmer

    20% 80%
    Fortran 114 out of 143 picked C over Fortran C

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

    19% 81%
    Fortran 73 out of 91 picked C over Fortran C

  91. I would use this language for writing embedded programs

    19% 81%
    Fortran 17 out of 21 picked C over Fortran C

  92. I would use this language for mobile applications

    18% 82%
    Fortran 111 out of 137 picked C over Fortran C

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

    17% 83%
    Fortran 101 out of 123 picked C over Fortran C

  94. This language is very flexible

    17% 83%
    Fortran 98 out of 119 picked C over Fortran C

  95. I know this language well

    17% 83%
    Fortran 849 out of 1027 picked C over Fortran C

  96. This is a low level language

    17% 83%
    Fortran 110 out of 133 picked C over Fortran C

  97. I would list this language on my resume

    17% 83%
    Fortran 120 out of 145 picked C over Fortran C

  98. This language has a high quality implementation

    16% 84%
    Fortran 50 out of 60 picked C over Fortran C

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

    16% 84%
    Fortran 128 out of 153 picked C over Fortran C

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

    15% 85%
    Fortran 95 out of 113 picked C over Fortran C

  101. There are many good tools for this language

    15% 85%
    Fortran 119 out of 141 picked C over Fortran C

  102. I regularly use this language

    15% 85%
    Fortran 134 out of 158 picked C over Fortran C

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

    12% 88%
    Fortran 117 out of 134 picked C over Fortran C

  104. I would use this language for a web project

    12% 88%
    Fortran 112 out of 128 picked C over Fortran C

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

    12% 88%
    Fortran 70 out of 80 picked C over Fortran C

  106. I would use this language for writing server programs

    11% 89%
    Fortran 115 out of 130 picked C over Fortran C

  107. This language is suitable for real-time applications

    9% 91%
    Fortran 118 out of 130 picked C over Fortran C

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

    8% 92%
    Fortran 124 out of 136 picked C over Fortran C

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

    8% 92%
    Fortran 116 out of 127 picked C over Fortran C

  110. I use many applications written in this language

    8% 92%
    Fortran 132 out of 144 picked C over Fortran C

  111. This is a mainstream language

    5% 95%
    Fortran 66 out of 70 picked C over Fortran 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 Fortran 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.