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> A good programmer uses the right language for the task. Agreed! > A good language is one that doesn't need a community and a beast of an editor just to code
by kjeetgill 5y ago
> A good programmer uses the right language for the task.
Agreed!
> A good language is one that doesn't need a community and a beast of an editor just to code something that compiles and runs.
Hmm. [citation needed]. I'd argue the exact opposite. A robust ecosystem and community around a language are a substantial part of its value proposition. Naturally, the language's PL details are what seed and fuel its ecosystem, so I'm not claiming semantics, syntax, and zeitgeist are irrelevant.
See every "worse is better language": C, Python, Java, Javascript, English against whatever ML, Haskell, Esperanto, Lojban, etc.
- grumpyprole 5y agoI think the parent was referring to the fact that e.g Java really needs an IDE, so one can generate all the boilerplate. In Haskell, I can e.g create a new type (with equality, hashing etc) in one line. Of course, a capable IDE would be extremely useful for Haskell and there are efforts to build such a thing with refactoring and navigation/search tools, but the language isn't unusable without one.
- heresie-dabord 5y agoYes, this is what is meant by the expression, "IDE Smell". It's a measure of a language's usability if a programmer can't use the simplest possible tools to be productive. Education and documentation is necessary. But if you have to have an entire support channel for a technology, it isn't necessarily a positive reflection on the technology.