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As an observer of this exact phenomenon, I suggest that it is due to the culture that comes with scala. In any given scala-centric organization, there's going t
by foobiekr 5y ago
As an observer of this exact phenomenon, I suggest that it is due to the culture that comes with scala. In any given scala-centric organization, there's going to eventually be someone who has mastered the art of talking High Scala. Unless there is someone equally skilled on both dimensions (persuasion and SW eng), and unfortunately, someone approximately as senior, then there is an interative game where added abstraction and complexity become the primary way to distinguish yourself as a "real" engineer.
This happens outside of scala shops, and I've seen it there, too, especially in C++ shops, but scala seems to attract these people.
- the_af 5y agoErik Meijer, one of the early practitioners and contributors of Scala, and a coauthor of Odersky's Coursera courses on Scala, believes that "Mostly Functional Programming Doesn't Work" [1] Note it's "mostly functional" that doesn't work, not functional. He believes you have to go all in to reap its benefits, other way you're just deluding yourself with another faddish "miracle cure". All of the above are Meijer's opinions, I'm just the messenger. I know Odersky doesn't share these opinions. My own opinion: I'm unsure. Though I wonder, these days if you're not a strong FP advocate, and instead look to Scala as an improved Java, why not use Kotlin instead? [1] https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2611829 https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2611829
- pjmlp 5y agoErik Meijer has also brought FP into .NET via VB, a couple of years before Scala was relevant, or F# started to actually matter. So in a sense, he also tried a miracle cure before changing his mind.
- the_af 5y agoI don't count it against him that he changed his mind. Changing his mind through experience makes sense to me :)
- flowcont 5y agoI'm at one of such organisations and you have concisely described the situation.