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Yes, it is a bizarre comparison because of that fact. A programming language will never be more intuitive than "just a serialization format". Also, the argumen
by canaus 5y ago
Yes, it is a bizarre comparison because of that fact. A programming language will never be more intuitive than "just a serialization format".
Also, the argument that lisp's s-expressions are just as intuitive as JSON is verifiably false because you can use a simple natural experiment: what is used more for serialization, JSON or s-expressions?
It's extremely ironic to try and argue these points on a post that's entire theme is how to get more people to use an editor that is quickly losing market share to easier to understand and configure applications.
- Jtsummers 5y agoBe careful not to mistake ubiquity with intuitive. It’s arguable that BASIC is more intuitive than Javascript, but Javascript is more ubiquitous. That only tells us that it’s more popular, but not why.
- canaus 5y agoWould you say that BASIC is more intuitive for web development than JavaScript? The syntax of something is only one part of its intuitiveness. A large part is the context of which it is used.
- funcDropShadow 5y agoI wonder why people are so focused on intuitiveness, especially in the case of programming languages. Some new thing is intuitive to a certain person, not everyone, if and only if that person has previously developed some intuition --- tacit experience --- that translates to that new thing. So intuitiveness is more a function of the previous experiences of a person than of a thing itself. Whereas intuitiveness for an average member of the target population of a product is a useful quality of that product, it is by no means the most important quality of that product. Or else the most "intuitive" products should never introduce any changes, shouldn't they?