From SIGPLAN Notices sept 1986:

         - By Daniel Salomon and David Rosenblueth -

With such a large selection of programming languages it can be 
difficult to choose one for a particular project. Reading the 
manuals to evaluate the languages is a time consuming process. 
... in order to assist those trying to choose a language, we 
have prepared a chart that matches programming languages eith 
comparable automobiles.

Assembler     - A Formula I race car. Very fast, but difficult 
                to drive and expensive to maintain.
FORTRAN II    - A Model T Ford. Once it was king of the road.
FORTRAN IV    - A Model A Ford.
FORTRAN 77    - A six-cylinder Ford Fairlane with standard                 
                transmission and no seat belts.
COBOL         - A delivery van. It's bulky and ugly, but it                 
                does the work.
BASIC         - A second-hand Rambler with a rebuilt engine and 
                patched upholstery. Your dad bought it for you 
                to learn to drive. You'll ditch that car as 
                soon as you can afford a new one.
PL/I          - A Cadillac convertible with automatic transmis-
                sion, a two-tone paint job, white-wall tires, 
                chrome exhaust pipes, and fuzzy dice hanging in 
                the windshield.
C             - A black Firebird, the all-macho car. Comes with 
                optional seat belts (lint) and optional fuzz 
                buster (escape to assembler).
ALGOL 60      - An Austin Mini. Boy, that's a small car!
Pascal        - A Volkswagen Beetle. It's small but sturdy. Was 
                once popular with intellectuals.
Modula II     - A Volkswagen Rabbit with a trailer hitch.
ALGOL 68      - An Aston Martin. An impressive car, but not 
                just anyone can drive it.
LISP          - An electric car. It's simple but slow. Seat 
                belts are not available.
PROLOG/LUCID  - Prototype concept-cars.
Maple/MACSYMA - All-terrain vehicles.
FORTH         - A go-cart.
LOGO          - A kiddie's replica of a Rolls Royce. Comes with 
                a real engine and a working horn.
APL           - A double-decker bus. It takes rows and columns 
                of passengers to the same place all at the same 
                time. But, it drives only in reverse gear, and 
                is instrumented in Greek.
Ada           - An arme-green Mercedes-Benz staff car. Power 
                steering, power brakes and automatic transmis-
                sion are all standard. No other colors or op-
                tions are available. If it's good enough for 
                the generals, it's good enough for you. Manufac-
                turing delays due to difficulties reading the 
                design specifications are starting to clear up.
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