Factors that influence the choice of programming language

Factors that influence the choice of programming language

There are many factors that influence the choice of language which should be used, these are:

·         Time Constraints

·         Organisational Policies

·         Suitability

·         Available of trained staff

·         Reliability

·         Environment

·         Development and maintenance 

·         Expandability

Time Constraints

The amount of time a programmer has to finish a job will tend to dictate on what programming language that would have to be use, some languages take longer to create a program in this would mean if there was a short time period and shorter programming language should be used.

Organisational Policies

An organisation tends to have a policy in place this could mean that they have a contract with a specific company; this would mean that the organisation would have to use computers and operating systems that the organisation are allowed to use. This could determine what operating systems you would be able to use, this would also dictate what programming language can be used as some may not be compatible. The organisation may also be restricted to what programming languages they are able to use.

If there are no restrictions on which language that the organisation has to use then the programmer maybe able to pick a language that better suits the others factors, for example operating system and type of program. The programmer will be able to determine which language should be used for example Visual Basic would be able to be used to create a program on a Windows operating system but would cause a Linux operating system to crash and maybe not even run.

Suitability

The programmer would have to determine the program is suitable for the organisation, the programmer will need to see what is compatible with the system the organisation is already using to what would be best to fit the current system.

Availability of Trained Staff

The employees of the company will need to be trained on the system that the programmer has created, in addition to this, the IT technicians that work within the company will also need to be able to support and fix any errors and bugs that may occur. It will not be very useful if the programmer designs and produces a program that the technicians are not able to fix.

Reliability

The organisation will want a program that is reliable and doesn’t crash, for example if the organisation takes orders, you will not want the program crashing every ten minutes, this would mean that orders may not be able to be saved, could have customers on the phone and would have to leave then on the phone whilst the system is fixed. Reliability is a key factor when creating a program as the organisation would be paying money for a program they can use.

Depending on the programmers time scale would determine how reliable the program will be, for example the larger time limit they have would ensure that the program would be less bug ridden and would run a lot smoothly as oppose to if the program is rushed it may not function as it should.

Environment

If a programmer was creating a program for an organisation with extra peripherals for example a barcode scanner, the programmer would have to see whether the current peripherals are able to be used on the new system or whether the hardware will need to be updated, this will need to be sorted before the programmer can start creating the program so that they know the environment that they have to match it to.

Development and maintenance

Most of the programming languages used and free to use and the programs to code the programs, a lot of the coding programs can be downloaded of the internet and nobody owns the rights to the language therefore it is free to use by all programmers. The costs that may occur will be if the hardware does need to be upgraded, also the IT technicians will need to have knowledge to be able to fix any bugs that may occur, otherwise this would also cost more money having to hire external help to fix the problems.

The quicker the business will want the program created may affect how much maintenance they may need in the long run the higher development time, any upgrades to the hardwarte after the program has been finished will then need to be altered in the future this may also cost the business more money.

Expandability

If a business is happy with the finishing product and the program works, they may want the programmer to load it up to all of the other computers this will allow the programmer to expand the program.

In addition to this the business may want the programmer to expand the program to a larger scale for example increase functionality and improve the program this will programmer to make a smaller program for the business and then upgrade it at a later date.