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Do you think that choosing a non-mainstream language is really the result of some sort of counter-culture vibe? Some desire to be different? I ask this because

by chris_j 16y ago

Do you think that choosing a non-mainstream language is really the result of some sort of counter-culture vibe? Some desire to be different? I ask this because I am a fan of Python and Clojure. I got into both as a result of reading pg's essays on Python and Lisp many years ago. Both languages were sold to me not as an act of rebellion but as more-powerful, higher-level languages that could get the job done more quickly. I quickly found this to be the case, compared to Java which I was used to. Nowadays, I grimace when I have to use Java or C and find myself missing a language feature from Python or Clojure that could have saved me an awful lot of typing and repeating myself. So, in my experience, was the choice of esoteric languages born of a desire to be different? No. Does it make me out as being an amazing programmer? Sadly no, not necessarily. I'd like to think, though, that it at least shows that I was enthusiastic enough to learn and use languages that I get a lot of benefit from.

kenjackson 16y ago
Do you think that choosing a non-mainstream language is really the result of some sort of counter-culture vibe? Some desire to be different? Not necessarily, but often so. More specifically, I think it used to signal someone who was more enthusiastic, passionate, engaged -- but now people will use them because they think it signals these things. And I don't think its intentional. But I think a lot like college radio, you see the guy who is leading the crew of outsiders and you see what he listens to. You see a lot of people who are signaling what resonates with you and follow that. It's odd that C++ is one of the most denigrated languages on the planet -- yet it really does seem like the people I know who most write C++ code still are a lot more hardcore than those I know who do Clojure (and its odd that I may know more people that do Clojure than C++). To put it another way the people doing the less mainstream languages are often putting themselves in the middle of it... "look at me -- look at the language I'm using". People doing C++ are saying, "look at my code -- look at my app".

by chris_j 16y ago

kenjackson 16y ago

Do you think that choosing a non-mainstream language is really the result of some sort of counter-culture vibe? Some desire to be different? Not necessarily, but often so. More specifically, I think it used to signal someone who was more enthusiastic, passionate, engaged -- but now people will use them because they think it signals these things. And I don't think its intentional. But I think a lot like college radio, you see the guy who is leading the crew of outsiders and you see what he listens to. You see a lot of people who are signaling what resonates with you and follow that. It's odd that C++ is one of the most denigrated languages on the planet -- yet it really does seem like the people I know who most write C++ code still are a lot more hardcore than those I know who do Clojure (and its odd that I may know more people that do Clojure than C++). To put it another way the people doing the less mainstream languages are often putting themselves in the middle of it... "look at me -- look at the language I'm using". People doing C++ are saying, "look at my code -- look at my app".