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People get too hung up on languages. I want to solve problems, and I'll use the best tool for the job. I know Java, I know how to use Java to solve innumerable

by c2 16y ago

People get too hung up on languages. I want to solve problems, and I'll use the best tool for the job. I know Java, I know how to use Java to solve innumerable problems very effectively and efficiently, so I'll use Java. I actually lost some respect for Paul after reading this collection of thoughts. "The wrong people like Java" "No one loves it" "The language was made for people dumber then the creators" etc. Ruby was made to be as elegant as possible. There is nothing wrong with that. And I don't "love" any language, I "love" solving problems. My passion is not coding, it's delivering, and Java has never let me down yet.

mahmud 16y ago
People get too hung up on languages. I want to solve problems, and I'll use the best tool for the job. I know Java, I know how to use Java to solve innumerable problems very effectively and efficiently, so I'll use Java. So is Java the "best tool" for the job because it's the one you happen to know best? I am just trying to understand the logic. In my experience, when people say "best tool for the job", they have a set of very diverse jobs in mind.
- c2 16y ago
  It's a good question, and I should say I know Java very well, but I also know plenty of other languages too. I used C++ before the rise of the web, and I also took the time to learn Python, Ruby, and other languages as they came in and out of the fad zone. My conclusion is based on my experience with learning these languages. I'll pick on ruby since that is the one brought up the most. I built several web sites using Ruby (mainly CRUD stuff) and my conclusion after having built around 5 web sites with Ruby (versus 7-8 at the time with Java) was that Ruby wasn't any faster or better at solving problems then Java. In fact, usually it was worse, multitudes of libraries with poor documentation and in many cases no clear standard. The language syntax was novel, but language syntax isn't a step function in productivity, at least not for me. So I continued using Java as my main language, and didn't feel like I was missing anything by not using it. I learned a few philosophies which helped my efficiency a bit, including the "convention over configuration" ethos from Ruby/Rails (my Java code generally has zero XML files), but the niche features each language was selling wasn't enough to counterbalance the deficiencies in productivity which came from using them. And I should say Java may not always be the best tool for every job, but I've worked on a wide variety of problems (scalable web services, high traffic content sites, ecommerce) and in each case Java, the language and the platform, in my opinion - delivers the goods.
- smcl 16y ago
  I presumed that it was a minor think-o and that c2 meant "the best\most appropriate tool in my toolbox". That's certainly what the rest of the comment seems to imply anyway.

by c2 16y ago

mahmud 16y ago

People get too hung up on languages. I want to solve problems, and I'll use the best tool for the job. I know Java, I know how to use Java to solve innumerable problems very effectively and efficiently, so I'll use Java. So is Java the "best tool" for the job because it's the one you happen to know best? I am just trying to understand the logic. In my experience, when people say "best tool for the job", they have a set of very diverse jobs in mind.

c2 16y ago
It's a good question, and I should say I know Java very well, but I also know plenty of other languages too. I used C++ before the rise of the web, and I also took the time to learn Python, Ruby, and other languages as they came in and out of the fad zone. My conclusion is based on my experience with learning these languages. I'll pick on ruby since that is the one brought up the most. I built several web sites using Ruby (mainly CRUD stuff) and my conclusion after having built around 5 web sites with Ruby (versus 7-8 at the time with Java) was that Ruby wasn't any faster or better at solving problems then Java. In fact, usually it was worse, multitudes of libraries with poor documentation and in many cases no clear standard. The language syntax was novel, but language syntax isn't a step function in productivity, at least not for me. So I continued using Java as my main language, and didn't feel like I was missing anything by not using it. I learned a few philosophies which helped my efficiency a bit, including the "convention over configuration" ethos from Ruby/Rails (my Java code generally has zero XML files), but the niche features each language was selling wasn't enough to counterbalance the deficiencies in productivity which came from using them. And I should say Java may not always be the best tool for every job, but I've worked on a wide variety of problems (scalable web services, high traffic content sites, ecommerce) and in each case Java, the language and the platform, in my opinion - delivers the goods.
smcl 16y ago
I presumed that it was a minor think-o and that c2 meant "the best\most appropriate tool in my toolbox". That's certainly what the rest of the comment seems to imply anyway.