Covers the major strengths, weaknesses, and applications of the most popular programming languages and operating systems and directs readers to the various software packages/books available. Provides a general introduction to languages in general, starting with machine code, then briefly but thoroughly covering the field from compilers to arrays and files. Discusses the individual purposes of each language and the uses of interpreters and assemblers. Covers BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal, Ada, APL, C, Forth, Lisp, Logo, Modula-2, PILOT, PL/1, and Prolog, as well as statistical analysis languages such as SPSS and SAS. An extensive bibliography follows each language chapter, outlining books that provide a more in-depth study of that language. The special Reference Section directs readers to the right software package for their particular computer or operating system.