5 ms·

Why should I care in what language it's written in?

by akerro 11y ago

bovermyer 11y ago
To put that question on its head: why shouldn't you care in what language it's written?
- HemanHeartYou 11y ago
  because users of software, should be language agnostic
  - maxaf 11y ago
    +1. Yet every time I use a piece of software written in a dynamically typed language, I keep asking myself: how could this be safe???
  - scrollaway 11y ago
    Most interested parties here are not merely users but developers. Potential contributors. Or if anything, merely curious about the inner workings. That represents a large percentage, if not the overwhelming majority of users of HN. I'm surprised this question still comes up. It's a bit like when people ask on /r/gamedev showcases "why should I care what engine your game is built in?".
fit2rule 11y ago
Maybe you want to learn some Go, and you're reading HN to hear about new and interesting Go projects. Maybe someone will gain a great understanding of things by reading the sources for this project, and end up doing something else creatively inspired by it. Maybe its just a fun new way to read HN, at first, but later you think ("mm.. wish it had blah feature"), and .. being a super-shart Go developer, you remember 'ah, its in Go, I can fix this..'
yomism 11y ago
The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. So from the final user perspective you just download it and put the executable in your path. Contrast with Python, Node, Ruby... apps where you have to install via Pip, NPM, Gems. But the real answer it's that Go is in the top of the hype curve right now (I say this as a Go fan myself).
- amelius 11y ago
  > The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. You could use Cython to create a static binary for a program written in Python.
- akerro 11y ago
  > The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. So from the final user perspective you just download it and put the executable in your path. This should apply to EVERY PROGRAM for a final user. It can be written in C, Go, Rust, PHP, compiled Ruby. Final user doesn't care what language it's written in, it shouldn't crash, should be intuitive and fast, and this can be achieved with any programming language, unless it's written in JS in Node and wrapped with Chrome, then will be lagging. Completely invalid argument for me.
  - wtetzner 11y ago
    This is Hacker News. I expect what's interesting about it to most people is the implementation, not the fact that this client exists.
- mholt 11y ago
  I agree with your comment, but I want to respond to one part: > But the real answer it's that Go is in the top of the hype curve right now (I say this as a Go fan myself). Hype is irrelevant to the advantages of using Go. End users of Go programs benefit for technical reasons, not social ones.
  - 11y ago
nawariata 11y ago
In case of Go projects it means that I'll get a single binary that also runs fast and the application is available on multiple platforms. I love portable apps, so any project written in Go spikes my interest. Likewise, if it's Java project, I'm likely to skip that.
- akerro 11y ago
  Well... Java is more portable than Go.
lohengramm 11y ago
I always make sure to check the technology behind the software I am about to use. This gives me a rough idea of how safe it is, how it works and how comfortable I am into hacking the source if needed.
- akerro 11y ago
  Do you refuse to use programs written in C?
  - lohengramm 11y ago
    No, and that would be funny. I generally do not objectively refuse to use something solely based on the technology behind it, but it is an important aspect to consider in the big picture while evaluating the alternatives and the actual necessity of it.
jmilloy 11y ago
If you are just a user, and it's a binary, I'd say there's no compelling reason you should. If you are a developer, you might want to know if you can easily make local changes, you might be interested in contributing, or you might just be interested in seeing how the internals work.
- akerro 11y ago
  >If you are a developer, you might want to know if you can easily make local changes Not programming language decides it, but license application is on.
  - laumars 11y ago
    The language matters in so much that not everyone can program in every language and not every language is equally easy nor fun to hack in.
  - justinlardinois 11y ago
    Yeah, let me just roll out some cool Apache-licensed projects in COBOL and see how many pull requests I get.
laumars 11y ago
Given the way you've phrased that, I'm going to assume it's rhetorical and that you don't care. However some people do care, which is why some people include the language name in the title. Personally I enjoy reading other people's code. Sometimes it inspires me, sometimes it educates me, and sometimes it just frustrates me - though thankfully that's less common than the former two. If a Show HN was written in a language I can't program in nor have any interest in learning, then there's little point in me reading the code. Other people will have their own reasons for caring about the language. Those reasons might not matter to you but I'm sure it matters to them.
- fizzbatter 11y ago
  Another reason to care, is that language often effects what the implementation is going to be like. Ie, if this was NodeJS, it would likely require i have Node installed. If it's a binary language, there's a good chance it has no runtime dependencies, or possibly just some lib deps. edit: Looks like this same argument has been made plenty of times :)

Why should I care in what language it's written in?

by akerro 11y ago

Why should I care in what language it's written in?

bovermyer 11y ago

To put that question on its head: why shouldn't you care in what language it's written?

HemanHeartYou 11y ago
because users of software, should be language agnostic
- maxaf 11y ago
  +1. Yet every time I use a piece of software written in a dynamically typed language, I keep asking myself: how could this be safe???
- scrollaway 11y ago
  Most interested parties here are not merely users but developers. Potential contributors. Or if anything, merely curious about the inner workings. That represents a large percentage, if not the overwhelming majority of users of HN. I'm surprised this question still comes up. It's a bit like when people ask on /r/gamedev showcases "why should I care what engine your game is built in?".

fit2rule 11y ago

Maybe you want to learn some Go, and you're reading HN to hear about new and interesting Go projects. Maybe someone will gain a great understanding of things by reading the sources for this project, and end up doing something else creatively inspired by it. Maybe its just a fun new way to read HN, at first, but later you think ("mm.. wish it had blah feature"), and .. being a super-shart Go developer, you remember 'ah, its in Go, I can fix this..'

yomism 11y ago

The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. So from the final user perspective you just download it and put the executable in your path. Contrast with Python, Node, Ruby... apps where you have to install via Pip, NPM, Gems. But the real answer it's that Go is in the top of the hype curve right now (I say this as a Go fan myself).

amelius 11y ago
> The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. You could use Cython to create a static binary for a program written in Python.
akerro 11y ago
> The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. So from the final user perspective you just download it and put the executable in your path. This should apply to EVERY PROGRAM for a final user. It can be written in C, Go, Rust, PHP, compiled Ruby. Final user doesn't care what language it's written in, it shouldn't crash, should be intuitive and fast, and this can be achieved with any programming language, unless it's written in JS in Node and wrapped with Chrome, then will be lagging. Completely invalid argument for me.
- wtetzner 11y ago
  This is Hacker News. I expect what's interesting about it to most people is the implementation, not the fact that this client exists.
mholt 11y ago
I agree with your comment, but I want to respond to one part: > But the real answer it's that Go is in the top of the hype curve right now (I say this as a Go fan myself). Hype is irrelevant to the advantages of using Go. End users of Go programs benefit for technical reasons, not social ones.
- 11y ago

nawariata 11y ago

In case of Go projects it means that I'll get a single binary that also runs fast and the application is available on multiple platforms. I love portable apps, so any project written in Go spikes my interest. Likewise, if it's Java project, I'm likely to skip that.

akerro 11y ago
Well... Java is more portable than Go.

lohengramm 11y ago

I always make sure to check the technology behind the software I am about to use. This gives me a rough idea of how safe it is, how it works and how comfortable I am into hacking the source if needed.

akerro 11y ago
Do you refuse to use programs written in C?
- lohengramm 11y ago
  No, and that would be funny. I generally do not objectively refuse to use something solely based on the technology behind it, but it is an important aspect to consider in the big picture while evaluating the alternatives and the actual necessity of it.

jmilloy 11y ago

If you are just a user, and it's a binary, I'd say there's no compelling reason you should. If you are a developer, you might want to know if you can easily make local changes, you might be interested in contributing, or you might just be interested in seeing how the internals work.

akerro 11y ago
>If you are a developer, you might want to know if you can easily make local changes Not programming language decides it, but license application is on.
- laumars 11y ago
  The language matters in so much that not everyone can program in every language and not every language is equally easy nor fun to hack in.
- justinlardinois 11y ago
  Yeah, let me just roll out some cool Apache-licensed projects in COBOL and see how many pull requests I get.

laumars 11y ago

Given the way you've phrased that, I'm going to assume it's rhetorical and that you don't care. However some people do care, which is why some people include the language name in the title. Personally I enjoy reading other people's code. Sometimes it inspires me, sometimes it educates me, and sometimes it just frustrates me - though thankfully that's less common than the former two. If a Show HN was written in a language I can't program in nor have any interest in learning, then there's little point in me reading the code. Other people will have their own reasons for caring about the language. Those reasons might not matter to you but I'm sure it matters to them.

fizzbatter 11y ago
Another reason to care, is that language often effects what the implementation is going to be like. Ie, if this was NodeJS, it would likely require i have Node installed. If it's a binary language, there's a good chance it has no runtime dependencies, or possibly just some lib deps. edit: Looks like this same argument has been made plenty of times :)