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I like Go, I like TypeScript, and I like C. All of them have significant design flaws and quirks, many of which people here write pages of complaints about. Bu

I like Go, I like TypeScript, and I like C. All of them have significant design flaws and quirks, many of which people here write pages of complaints about. But in most cases, it's easy to learn how to avoid them (granted, that's more of a stretch for C, but plenty of people manage, and that's enough). I'm not against pointing out issues, especially for actively developed languages like Go. However, it's important not to turn criticism into bashing the language or the people using it. That just comes off as snobbish and isn't constructive. Each of these languages is well-designed for specific needs, and not so much for others. And that's okay. I think people mostly try to scare others away from using these technologies to push something they believe is better. But instead of that, you could perhaps write a competing article praising and comparing your favorite stack and that would be much more useful, in my opinion.

grey-area 2y ago
I wish more people thought this way. Why does the language you choose have to be your religion and lifestyle, when it’s just a tool? They all have flaws and areas they are useful in.
- newdee 2y ago
  People do this with all sorts of things, but ultimately want validation that they made the “right” choice. At least that’s the most charitable assumption I can make.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  For many folks, because it means which kind of job they are able to land, with which people they hang around at least 8h a day, what they talk about, to which conferences they go if any, and so on.
kerkeslager 2y ago
It's one thing to say these are decent tools, but to say something is well designed is a much more specific claim. I have some fondness for C, but I would not say it is well designed compared to modern alternatives. The reason I use it is largely portability which is more a function of its age and ubiquity than its design. You can of course make the argument that it was well-designed compared to the languages of the time when it was designed, and I don't really know enough to disagree with you there. TypeScript, I will say, I think is actually very well-designed. It has it's problems but it's a massive step forward from anything that existed before it. > I think people mostly try to scare others away from using these technologies to push something they believe is better. But instead of that, you could perhaps write a competing article praising and comparing your favorite stack and that would be much more useful, in my opinion. Strong disagree. Polyanna programming where we pretend all the tools in the world are so great results in horrible codebases, and then the programmer who thinks every tool is awesome becomes frustrated, doesn't know why, and moves on blissfully to a new project/company where they begin to plant the seeds of chaos anew. But someone has to deal with that crap codebase they left behind, and at this point in my career that person is often me. Work on codebases for more than a few years and the only way to stay sane is to recognize problems in code so that they can be fixed before they become bigger problems, and doing that requires you to be critical. Working on a team, the biggest uphill battle is often preventing people from inserting every random tool they get excited about. Usually it's libraries, not languages, that are the problem, but I've seen both.

grey-area 2y ago

I wish more people thought this way. Why does the language you choose have to be your religion and lifestyle, when it’s just a tool? They all have flaws and areas they are useful in.

newdee 2y ago
People do this with all sorts of things, but ultimately want validation that they made the “right” choice. At least that’s the most charitable assumption I can make.
pjmlp 2y ago
For many folks, because it means which kind of job they are able to land, with which people they hang around at least 8h a day, what they talk about, to which conferences they go if any, and so on.

kerkeslager 2y ago

It's one thing to say these are decent tools, but to say something is well designed is a much more specific claim. I have some fondness for C, but I would not say it is well designed compared to modern alternatives. The reason I use it is largely portability which is more a function of its age and ubiquity than its design. You can of course make the argument that it was well-designed compared to the languages of the time when it was designed, and I don't really know enough to disagree with you there. TypeScript, I will say, I think is actually very well-designed. It has it's problems but it's a massive step forward from anything that existed before it. > I think people mostly try to scare others away from using these technologies to push something they believe is better. But instead of that, you could perhaps write a competing article praising and comparing your favorite stack and that would be much more useful, in my opinion. Strong disagree. Polyanna programming where we pretend all the tools in the world are so great results in horrible codebases, and then the programmer who thinks every tool is awesome becomes frustrated, doesn't know why, and moves on blissfully to a new project/company where they begin to plant the seeds of chaos anew. But someone has to deal with that crap codebase they left behind, and at this point in my career that person is often me. Work on codebases for more than a few years and the only way to stay sane is to recognize problems in code so that they can be fixed before they become bigger problems, and doing that requires you to be critical. Working on a team, the biggest uphill battle is often preventing people from inserting every random tool they get excited about. Usually it's libraries, not languages, that are the problem, but I've seen both.