(This article was written in 1988 or so, back when there was a huge flame discussion on BIX about which computer language was "better". My intent in writing this piece was to express my feeling that all computer languages are worthy of respect, and that each one has it's proper use and place. Since I also have had a longstanding interest in art, I decided to create a metaphorical mapping between artistic mediums and computer languages. Note that this was before I had discovered Perl, C++, Python, etc., so those languages are not listed here.)
BASIC is the artist's sketchpad, the medium by which he can rough out, quickly, any idea that happens to catch his fancy. Some of his sketches become venerated works, framed and mounted. Others serve merely as a prelude to greater works, and are discarded afterwards.
Pascal is the pen and ink with which the artist expressess his more permanent or grandiose visions. Add a xerox machine and clip-art books and you have Modula-2.
FORTRAN is a drafting machine, precise and reliable. With it, the artist can create complex, meaningful structures. Yet it exists only on one level - there are no automatics, no hierarchies, and the artist must draw each and every line himself. Though the use of the machine is obvious even to the neophyte draftsman, great skill and logical intellect are required to realize it's full potential. (RATFOR is a CAD system - a drafting machine with automatics).
C is a set of fine engraving tools. The C artist is interested in the realization of excellence in his craft, creating applications and programs which are elegant, refined, and permanent. No 'thought experiment' languages or mental toys for him!
Assembly Language is like the pointilist's stylus. Not content to let his art be dictated or even influenced by characteristics of his tools (either brush or compiler), he must determine the exact color and placement of each feature himself, and nothing left to chance. His vision is naturally microscopic, and thus he is estranged from his admirers.
PILOT is the blackboard where the artist places his drawings and symbols, not as works of art in of themselves, but as examples so that others might learn to create works of their own.
LOGO is a set of watercolors or crayons, with which the novice can create beautiful and self-expressive works with little formal knowledge. Yet, the master is unhampered by the simplicity of his tools.
If LOGO is a watercolor set, then surely LISP must be an airbrush. Both vivid and bizzare in it's form, it is unmistakeable at first glance. It is capable of expressive forms which no other tool can easily imitate.
PROLOG, by extention then, is the Laser, or perhaps neon light sculpture. The Prolog artist strips away the intervening mediums of language and deals directly with the fundamental brilliance of pure logic. His work is not a reflection of an idea, but the idea itself.
FORTH is a cunning mosaic, an assemblage of brightly colored stones in intricate patterns. Unlike paint, which infinitely pliable to his command, the artist must consider the individual character and color of each element before is is placed in the array.
COBOL is a set of oil paints. One of the oldest mediums, it is time consuming and produces an odor repugnant to many practitioners. The many tools required take up a great deal of space, and are sometimes messy.
ALGOL is that wonderful red chalk that was so prized by renaissance artists, but now lost to the modern world. Not so interactive as BASIC, not so elegant as Pascal, it has inspired many substitutes.
Smalltalk, in this analogy, is a computer artist's workstation. Rather than a simple tool it is an environment wholly unlike any other, where the artist's tools communicate with him and with each other as vital, almost living things. This magic world has a price, though - only the wealthy artists can affords to keep such an extravagent tool, and the results are not often transferable to more common media. Thus he works in isolation, and often his only audience is himself.
APL is of course Calligraphy.
-- Talin