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Here’s a question for you: “To what extent should developers use advanced programming language features?” I worked on a project once that had lots of sophisti

Here’s a question for you: “To what extent should developers use advanced programming language features?” I worked on a project once that had lots of sophisticated code in it. One of the senior developers objected however when I suggested we use typescript decorators. He said other developers might not understand it. Consider what happens when the question is phrased differently: “To what extent should developers use unfamiliar programming language features?” Well, all language features are initially unfamiliar. It’s a matter of opinion, but I think developers should use whatever language features they want, and all developers working on that should be expected to be active in learning unfamiliar techniques that they are implemented in the code. It’s extremely unhelpful to say that language features are “too advanced” or “too unfamiliar” to use.

paulryanrogers 4y ago
Some features are more naturally intuitive than others. Consider an 'if' statement and a monad. How much talent is available that's capable of understanding and using the latter effectively? How much time would be needed by a new hire to come up to speed? If you need intermittent help from contractors then will they be able to hit the ground running? Over time the bar does rise, and I hope that trend continues. Yet it's undeniable that there are limits like human lifespan, and how much people and companies are willing to invest in education and training before doing the actual work for which they're compensated.
- hnthrway 4y ago
  Most companies are willing to invest just about nothing into education