Programming Languages

Whitespace Software Limited's programmers have a great deal of experience in C, having used it to implement several major database projects, including a core business system for members' agencies at Lloyd's.

C# is Microsoft’s flagship object oriented programming language. C# runs on the .NET framework, a collection of libraries built to fully exploit the capabilities of the Microsoft Windows operating systems for desktop client applications.

Web applications are developed in C# through ASP.NET.

C++ is an Object Oriented programming language which expands on C. "Object Oriented" means programs are written in a highly structured way, making it easy to extend functionality without affecting what the program already does.

Visual C++ is a development environment for creating C++ applications that run on Microsoft Windows. This allows programs to have the same user interface ( windows, menus etc.) as applications like Microsoft Word and Excel.

An example system written by Whitespace in Visual C++ was the back office system for administering employees' exams and qualifications by the human resources department of a major actuarial company.

Visual Basic is a development environment for creating applications written in the BASIC language that run in Microsoft Windows. It allows programs to be created rapidly and for easy insertion of ActiveX/COM objects, which provide access to powerful Windows functionality. This makes it suitable for developing relatively small applications and for prototyping larger projects. However, it also means that Visual Basic offers less control over the Windows system, so it is less powerful and slower than Visual C++.

Whitespace used Visual Basic to build the Windows client server application described in case studies.

Java is an Object Oriented programming language that includes features specifically for dealing with the internet/networking. The principal philosophy behind Java is that programs written in it will run on any system without having to be rewritten. This portability, along with its networking capabilities, makes Java suitable for writing server-side programs and the Enterprise Edition is establishing a strong position in e-commerce/web development.

Another of its features is that Java allows you to write Applets - programs that can be embedded in web pages. These programs can then be run on any system that has a Java enabled browser.

SQL (Structured Query Language) is an industry standard language for manipulating data. Whitespace use it with database management systems such as Microsoft SQL Server, ORACLE and Sybase.

If you would like more information please contact Lucy Jaffé