4 ms·

I was probably being unfair to Java. For C# I have no mercy (it's personal). I would argue you're the exception that proves the rule. For what it's worth, I was

I was probably being unfair to Java. For C# I have no mercy (it's personal). I would argue you're the exception that proves the rule. For what it's worth, I was a huge Obj-C fan starting in 2002. The way that Obj-C's popularity matches the profitability of writing for the iOS platform in lock-step tells me that some people can pick tools by themselves, but most just do what they're told... Oh, and did I mention that I'm on the MacRuby core team? ;-)

thibaut_barrere 14y ago
I know many other people who love C# actually! So I think it's more a matter of "personal sphere". Note that I don't use it anymore at all personally either. Thanks for your work on MacRuby! Did I mention I love Ruby? ;-) (really - all of my apps are Ruby/CoffeeScript based).
jasonlotito 14y ago
> The way that Obj-C's popularity matches the profitability of writing for the iOS platform in lock-step tells me that some people can pick tools by themselves, but most just do what they're told... Same exact thing happened with Ruby, and the herd followed. Is their any doubt?
- jballanc 14y ago
  Nowhere near the same. When Ruby was just becoming popular, any Rails developer could have said "This language is crap, I'm going to go write my web app in PHP/Perl/Java/Python". Now try the same thing as Obj-C was just becoming popular: "This language is crap I'm going to go write my iOS app in..." Well?
  - jasonlotito 14y ago
    > Now try the same thing as Obj-C was just becoming popular: "This language is crap I'm going to go write my iOS app in..." Java wasn't the only way to write apps, but Sun pushed it. And people followed. C# wasn't the only way to write apps, but MS pushed it. And people followed. Ruby wasn't an option until after 37 Signals put it out there and said "This is how you write web apps." And people followed. > Now try the same thing as Obj-C was just becoming popular: "This language is crap I'm going to go write my iOS app in..." You have Titanium, which uses JavaScript, and you have PhoneGap, which leverages existing web technologies. You have Adobe Air or Flash or whatever, which you can use to build apps with. You can use Ruby. The point is, these languages didn't become popular on their own. Maybe Ruby is the one most unlike the others, but still, I don't think anyone could seriously make the case that had not Rails appeared, Ruby would still be what it is today.

thibaut_barrere 14y ago

I know many other people who love C# actually! So I think it's more a matter of "personal sphere". Note that I don't use it anymore at all personally either. Thanks for your work on MacRuby! Did I mention I love Ruby? ;-) (really - all of my apps are Ruby/CoffeeScript based).

jasonlotito 14y ago

> The way that Obj-C's popularity matches the profitability of writing for the iOS platform in lock-step tells me that some people can pick tools by themselves, but most just do what they're told... Same exact thing happened with Ruby, and the herd followed. Is their any doubt?

jballanc 14y ago
Nowhere near the same. When Ruby was just becoming popular, any Rails developer could have said "This language is crap, I'm going to go write my web app in PHP/Perl/Java/Python". Now try the same thing as Obj-C was just becoming popular: "This language is crap I'm going to go write my iOS app in..." Well?
- jasonlotito 14y ago
  > Now try the same thing as Obj-C was just becoming popular: "This language is crap I'm going to go write my iOS app in..." Java wasn't the only way to write apps, but Sun pushed it. And people followed. C# wasn't the only way to write apps, but MS pushed it. And people followed. Ruby wasn't an option until after 37 Signals put it out there and said "This is how you write web apps." And people followed. > Now try the same thing as Obj-C was just becoming popular: "This language is crap I'm going to go write my iOS app in..." You have Titanium, which uses JavaScript, and you have PhoneGap, which leverages existing web technologies. You have Adobe Air or Flash or whatever, which you can use to build apps with. You can use Ruby. The point is, these languages didn't become popular on their own. Maybe Ruby is the one most unlike the others, but still, I don't think anyone could seriously make the case that had not Rails appeared, Ruby would still be what it is today.