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> Picking a shitty, slow language, as long as it's a popular one (JavaScript, Java, C#, PHP, Python), is going to have a much better cost/benefit profile. Alth

by sinatra 11y ago

> Picking a shitty, slow language, as long as it's a popular one (JavaScript, Java, C#, PHP, Python), is going to have a much better cost/benefit profile. Although, keep in mind that a startup is going to be a roller coaster ride for years. You'll have days when you get tired of writing financial models for investors, or when an angry email from a customer ruins your mood, or you hit a road-block with a UI that just doesn't feel right. You'll want to take a break from all that by going back to just writing code for a day or two. At that point, you will want to get pleasure out coding. I'll be very unhappy if after those kind of days, I try to find solace in coding, and I see PHP, JavaScript or Java staring back at me. Compared to the years it takes to turn a startup successful, the time needed to learn a new language well enough is negligible. I knew just basic Ruby when I switched to Ruby + Sinatra from Java for my new startup. Now, three years later, I can't be happier I made the switch.

smt88 11y ago
Failing fast isn't easy if you're also learning a new language. You want to go from zero to product as soon as possible, and that means using a language you already know like the back of your hand, even if that language sucks.
- sinatra 11y ago
  Not necessarily. I don't go from zero to product till I have verified that there's a need for the product. I try to fail fast before developing the product. By the time I'm developing the product, I'm fairly certain it's not going to fail immediately after launch. Oh, and once you've built a product that people are using and you're going after growth, you would rarely get a chance to switch languages or frameworks. So, then, you're stuck with the language that you don't even like anymore for many years. I think you're also over-estimating the time required to learn a new language to be good enough for most startups. I understand that there are some areas where language mastery will be tremendous benefit. In that case, I agree that switching languages may not be such a good idea. But, that's a special case, IMHO.
- MCRed 11y ago
  For your first couple programming languages, it's intimidating to learn a new language. Once you're experienced, though, you discover that its easy and quick to pick up new languages. Because my experience is, as I related above, even though I was learning elixir (for real, I had dabbled with it before) an building a team from scratch, we delivered a product extremely fast.... because we chose elixir. It doesn't matter how well you know java, the language is going to slow down your development dramatically... at lest compared to Elixir (and maybe go.)

by sinatra 11y ago

smt88 11y ago

Failing fast isn't easy if you're also learning a new language. You want to go from zero to product as soon as possible, and that means using a language you already know like the back of your hand, even if that language sucks.

sinatra 11y ago
Not necessarily. I don't go from zero to product till I have verified that there's a need for the product. I try to fail fast before developing the product. By the time I'm developing the product, I'm fairly certain it's not going to fail immediately after launch. Oh, and once you've built a product that people are using and you're going after growth, you would rarely get a chance to switch languages or frameworks. So, then, you're stuck with the language that you don't even like anymore for many years. I think you're also over-estimating the time required to learn a new language to be good enough for most startups. I understand that there are some areas where language mastery will be tremendous benefit. In that case, I agree that switching languages may not be such a good idea. But, that's a special case, IMHO.
MCRed 11y ago
For your first couple programming languages, it's intimidating to learn a new language. Once you're experienced, though, you discover that its easy and quick to pick up new languages. Because my experience is, as I related above, even though I was learning elixir (for real, I had dabbled with it before) an building a team from scratch, we delivered a product extremely fast.... because we chose elixir. It doesn't matter how well you know java, the language is going to slow down your development dramatically... at lest compared to Elixir (and maybe go.)