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I use ML-family languages for most of my work and I simply can’t express my code in mainstream languages in a reasonable way. I could solve the same problems in
by pharmakom 5y ago
I use ML-family languages for most of my work and I simply can’t express my code in mainstream languages in a reasonable way. I could solve the same problems in a different way, but it would be a lot more code and a lot less robust. People I talk to who don’t use these languages aren’t convinced by this claim; they seem to think I’ve joined a cult! Have I? It’s difficult to judge from the inside looking in.
- kaba0 5y agoJust another data point: I have written largely the same tetris program both in Haskell and C++. At first, I was blown away how short the Haskell one was, but later someone wrote that actually, world-count-wise they were largely the same, and indeed he was right. So in certain cases, ML languages are not terser, just more wide, rather than long.
- yawaramin 5y agoBut surely word count is not the only criterion that matters. What about safety properties of the two programs, or maintainability/refactorability?
- pharmakom 5y agoLength of code is probably the wrong metric. What I mean is readability or intelligibility or code. Long code is rarely readable (too many files etc) but short code can be hard to read too (e.g. code golf). However, the most readable solution will tend to be short.