3 ms·

C is just fun. I do t know how else to say it. It feels like you get to really think about what you want the computer to do.

kelnos 4y ago
I don't find it fun at all. I want to focus on what I want my program to do, not on how the computer does it, as long as its doing it reasonably efficiently. I want a successful compile to give me a decent amount of confidence that my program is correct, and is free of some classes of bugs. Life is too short to waste time tracking down double frees, out-of-bounds writes, memory leaks, and weird concurrency issues.
klyrs 4y ago
Kinda like riding a fixed-gear bike. To some, the sheer simplicity is a joy of its own. To others, little besides literal tooth-pulling even compares.
- enriquto 4y ago
  I love this analogy! (Being a fan of C and of bikes). How does it continue? Assembly=walking, fixie=C, regular bike=fortran, electrically assisted bike=C++, electric wheelchair=python, ...
  - IYasha 4y ago
    > electric wheelchair=python :_D You made my day! I'd continue like this: barely moving eye-popping-graffiti-painted squeaky wheelchair with no bearings mounted with duck tape inside a rusty sea container, that is chained to a heavy truck with broken exhaust and flat tires = (you guessed it! :) )
    - enriquto 4y ago
      > barely moving eye-popping-graffiti-painted squeaky wheelchair with no bearings mounted with duck tape inside a rusty sea container, that is chained to a heavy truck with broken exhaust and flat tires If you add a solid rocket booster to this contraption (so that it actually moves) that would be exactly javascript.
rightbyte 4y ago
I feel it gives a fresh taste of freedom and simplicity. Like, comparatively no magic involved. It is alot easier to reason about performance. The code does somewhat translate to the machine instructions you anticipate. But the greatest advantage is all the fancy pants idioms you don't feel compelled to use.
dancek 4y ago
Real-mode assembly is even more fun. I highly recommend something like http://www.sizecoding.org/wiki/Getting_Started http://www.sizecoding.org/wiki/Getting_Started if you're into that sort of thing.
kingboss 4y ago
System instability and security issues are just fun! That is all I'm hearing. At this point I think we should have some sort of vetoing power on when a new kid comes in and says "I'll write it in C". He should give very convincing arguments on why he can't use a higher level, safer language. Too many people are allowed to "write it in C because it's fun" and here we are.
- gnubison 4y ago
  > That is all I’m hearing As alien as it might be to you to not use Rust or Go or Python, people really do write C because they like it — and they are aware of “system instability” usually :) This argument just makes its users seem worse off for projecting their righteousness onto other peoples’ personal choices.

kelnos 4y ago

I don't find it fun at all. I want to focus on what I want my program to do, not on how the computer does it, as long as its doing it reasonably efficiently. I want a successful compile to give me a decent amount of confidence that my program is correct, and is free of some classes of bugs. Life is too short to waste time tracking down double frees, out-of-bounds writes, memory leaks, and weird concurrency issues.

klyrs 4y ago

Kinda like riding a fixed-gear bike. To some, the sheer simplicity is a joy of its own. To others, little besides literal tooth-pulling even compares.

enriquto 4y ago
I love this analogy! (Being a fan of C and of bikes). How does it continue? Assembly=walking, fixie=C, regular bike=fortran, electrically assisted bike=C++, electric wheelchair=python, ...
- IYasha 4y ago
  > electric wheelchair=python :_D You made my day! I'd continue like this: barely moving eye-popping-graffiti-painted squeaky wheelchair with no bearings mounted with duck tape inside a rusty sea container, that is chained to a heavy truck with broken exhaust and flat tires = (you guessed it! :) )
  - enriquto 4y ago
    > barely moving eye-popping-graffiti-painted squeaky wheelchair with no bearings mounted with duck tape inside a rusty sea container, that is chained to a heavy truck with broken exhaust and flat tires If you add a solid rocket booster to this contraption (so that it actually moves) that would be exactly javascript.

rightbyte 4y ago

I feel it gives a fresh taste of freedom and simplicity. Like, comparatively no magic involved. It is alot easier to reason about performance. The code does somewhat translate to the machine instructions you anticipate. But the greatest advantage is all the fancy pants idioms you don't feel compelled to use.

dancek 4y ago

Real-mode assembly is even more fun. I highly recommend something like http://www.sizecoding.org/wiki/Getting_Started http://www.sizecoding.org/wiki/Getting_Started if you're into that sort of thing.

kingboss 4y ago

System instability and security issues are just fun! That is all I'm hearing. At this point I think we should have some sort of vetoing power on when a new kid comes in and says "I'll write it in C". He should give very convincing arguments on why he can't use a higher level, safer language. Too many people are allowed to "write it in C because it's fun" and here we are.

gnubison 4y ago
> That is all I’m hearing As alien as it might be to you to not use Rust or Go or Python, people really do write C because they like it — and they are aware of “system instability” usually :) This argument just makes its users seem worse off for projecting their righteousness onto other peoples’ personal choices.