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"Why are so many developers so very emotional when it comes to their favorite programming language?" Even more to the point... Why are developers so emotional

"Why are so many developers so very emotional when it comes to their favorite programming language?" Even more to the point... Why are developers so emotional about things like editors? All of these things (computer languages, editors, compilers, etc.) are just a means to an end: the end being a software system that, hopefully, makes the users life easier and/or provides them with something new to do.

afterburner 15y ago
Funny, when you put it in terms of editors, the answer for both editors and languages leapt out at me: claims to hardcore-ness, personal preference, familiarity, and basic human irrationality. We like to think programmers/hackers/whatever are all logical and rational because they code for computers, but... not really. All the usual social and behavioural weirdness applies.
georgieporgie 15y ago
Because editors are the means by which you translate your ideas into code, which is the means by which you translate your ideas into functionality. The more familiar you are with each of these means, the more automatic and transparent the process becomes. If you mean to ask why developers believe their setup to be universally superior to all others, well, then it's most likely because they're too caught up in their own world to understand how subjective they're being.
desas 15y ago
All of those things are software systems that makes the developers life easier and/or more interesting. Have you never met a tradesman who can talk at length about their drills and powertools? It's the same thing.
jleader 15y ago
Developers are emotional about their tools because those tools enable them to create. Trying to use an unfamiliar tool can be unpleasant, in a viscerally emotional way, because little muscle-habitual movements don't have their expected effect. It's like trying to walk with your shoelaces tied together: you can do it, but it's annoying and sometimes you forget and hurt yourself.

afterburner 15y ago

Funny, when you put it in terms of editors, the answer for both editors and languages leapt out at me: claims to hardcore-ness, personal preference, familiarity, and basic human irrationality. We like to think programmers/hackers/whatever are all logical and rational because they code for computers, but... not really. All the usual social and behavioural weirdness applies.

georgieporgie 15y ago

Because editors are the means by which you translate your ideas into code, which is the means by which you translate your ideas into functionality. The more familiar you are with each of these means, the more automatic and transparent the process becomes. If you mean to ask why developers believe their setup to be universally superior to all others, well, then it's most likely because they're too caught up in their own world to understand how subjective they're being.

desas 15y ago

All of those things are software systems that makes the developers life easier and/or more interesting. Have you never met a tradesman who can talk at length about their drills and powertools? It's the same thing.

jleader 15y ago

Developers are emotional about their tools because those tools enable them to create. Trying to use an unfamiliar tool can be unpleasant, in a viscerally emotional way, because little muscle-habitual movements don't have their expected effect. It's like trying to walk with your shoelaces tied together: you can do it, but it's annoying and sometimes you forget and hurt yourself.