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Ya, here's why I think "make your programs shorter" is a good criterion. If a language compresses conceivably-desirable programs to a smaller AST size, then fo
by Liron 7y ago
Ya, here's why I think "make your programs shorter" is a good criterion.
If a language compresses conceivably-desirable programs to a smaller AST size, then for all N, a higher fraction of size-N ASTs (compared to other languages) represent conceivably-desirable programs.
So "make your programs shorter" also implies "make bad behaviors impossible or extra-verbose to write". For example, failing to free your memory is bad code, and it's impossible(ish) to write in managed-memory languages.
- jstimpfle 7y agoMake your programs as short as possible, but no shorter. Failing to free your memory makes for a shorter program. Using GC makes for a shorter program, but there is a whole class of problems that just can't be solved with GC.
- badatshipping 7y agoI think deciding to not free your memory or use GC (instead of not) would count as having a different program.
- LrnByTeach 7y ago> So "make your programs shorter" also implies "make bad behaviors impossible or extra-verbose to write". It reminds me "The Zen of Python" "There should be one — and preferably only one — obvious way to do it" https://jeffknupp.com/blog/2018/10/11/write-better-python-functions/ https://jeffknupp.com/blog/2018/10/11/write-better-python-fu... https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-be-pythonic-and-why-you-should-care-188d63a5037e https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-be-pythonic-and-why-yo...