languages of choice
 n.

    C, Perl, Python, Java and LISP ? the dominant languages in
    open-source development. This list has changed over time, but slowly. Java
    bumped C++ off of it, and Python appears to be recruiting people who would
    otherwise gravitate to LISP (which used to be much more important than it
    is now). Smalltalk and Prolog are also popular in small but influential
    communities.

    The Real Programmers who loved FORTRAN and assembler have pretty much all
    retired or died since 1990. Assembler is generally no longer considered
    interesting or appropriate for anything but HLL implementation, glue,
    and a few time-critical and hardware-specific uses in systems programs.
    FORTRAN occupies a shrinking niche in scientific programming.

    Most hackers tend to frown on languages like Pascal and Ada, which don't
    give them the near-total freedom considered necessary for hacking (see 
    bondage-and-discipline language), and to regard everything even remotely
    connected with COBOL or other traditional DP languages as a total and
    unmitigated loss.

languages of choice

   C and Lisp.  Nearly every hacker knows one of these, and
   most good ones are fluent in both.  Smalltalk and Prolog are
   also popular in small but influential communities.

   There is also a rapidly dwindling category of older hackers
   with Fortran, or even assembler, as their language of choice.
   They often prefer to be known as Real Programmers, and other
   hackers consider them a bit odd (see "The Story of Mel").
   Assembler is generally no longer considered interesting or
   appropriate for anything but HLL implementation, glue, and
   a few time-critical and hardware-specific uses in systems
   programs.  Fortran occupies a shrinking niche in scientific
   programming.

   Most hackers tend to frown on languages like Pascal and
   Ada, which don't give them the near-total freedom considered
   necessary for hacking (see bondage-and-discipline language),
   and to regard everything even remotely connected with COBOL
   or other traditional card walloper languages as a total and
   unmitigated loss.

   [Jargon File]