5 ms·
Because simpler languages are inherently better than more complicated ones.
by ReflectedImage 3y ago
Because simpler languages are inherently better than more complicated ones.
- zabzonk 3y agowhy? says who? assembler (about as simple as you can get) better than (for e.g.) C?
- Verdex 3y agoAnd even simpler is the iota combinator which is by itself turing complete. So a single letter plus matching parens is about the simplest language as you can get. But I can't imagine anyone wanting or even being able to program in it.
- nurettin 3y agoAssembler is a bad example for simplicity. Perhaps brainfuck fits better in this case.
- ReflectedImage 3y agoSimpler aka Python, Ruby, Basic, Pascal, not "lower level".
- zabzonk 3y agoi don't see those languages as being "simple". quick to program in, yes. but assembler is really pretty transparent, once you get into it. heck, i used to program in machine code (i don't recommend it) without too many problems.
- shadowgovt 3y ago"Simpler" isn't really a good adjective to classify languages. You have to be way more specific on what "simple" means. Are we talking characters needed to implement 'hello world?' Time to first memory access segfault? Number of pages in the specification (which, at this point, I'm not sure whether Python or C++ wins out...)? Lines of code in the compiler / interpreter?
- stouset 3y agoSimpler languages often put more burden on the programmer. There's a balance.
- ReflectedImage 3y agoWell no, what do you think the word simpler means?
- dartos 3y agoC is a simple language. Rust is not a simple language. Lisp is also a simple language. Lua is simple as well (well… maybe not…) JavaScript is not. C++ is not.
- arcticbull 3y agoC isn't a simple language, really, because it has a ton of implicit assumptions and inconsistencies, undefined behavior and all the failure modes you have to keep in your head at all times. It's not that C is simpler, it's less expressive. I don't think this answers parents question though, which is what does it mean for a language to be simpler? I think that's a good question. This is just a list of examples. It almost seems like simple is a bad concept applied to languages because what's simple and complex is the idea you're trying to express, accurately, in its totality - not necessarily the language.
- dartos 3y agoI think expressiveness is complexity. The fewer ways there are to express an idea, the simpler the language is. Simple languages do not imply simple software (look at lisp)
- deterministic 3y agoGood luck programming your next application using the lamda calculus or a Turing machine.