3 ms·

Introduction to Programming Languages

76 points by parksb 1y ago

Waraqa 1y ago
[flagged]
- koolala 1y ago
  Is Scala actually special for doing this? Would Python equally work or JS / C wouldn't work because types?
  - beanjuiceII 1y ago
    nah in fact scala will be one of the reasons very few people will read this book
  - noelwelsh 1y ago
    Implementing a programming language is very easy when you have pattern matching and algebraic data types (which implies types). Python, JS, and C lack some or all of these. Scala is not special in this regard, though. Any modern language with FP ancestry will have these features.
    - koolala 1y ago
      So its good because of Scala's ability to implement a programming language and not Scala's language itself being good on its own for general abstract sudo like code. Or does Scala write cleanly (like people say Python does) and is also elegantly able to expands it's own simple syntax? It bugs me how languages like JS are clean but any custom domain-specific language made in them is ugly.
      - noelwelsh 1y ago
        For the authors of this book, I imagine it was a combination of Scala having the features they wanted, plus it being relatively popular, easy to install, and having good tooling. I've written a lot of Scala in the last 15 years or so, and I really like the language. It has features that most programmers are not familiar with, which can scare off some. My opinion is that if you understand the features it is a very elegant and simple language, particularly Scala 3.
CapnTrippy 1y ago
https://www-users.york.ac.uk/~ss44/joke/foot.htm https://www-users.york.ac.uk/~ss44/joke/foot.htm I find the above the best introduction to a programming language.
veltas 1y ago
Should be called "Introduction to Functional Programming Languages"
- noelwelsh 1y ago
  The order is which things are covered is pretty standard for programming languages. Chapters 11 and 12 cover mutation. PLAI (https://www.plai.org/ https://www.plai.org/) covers similar material in a similar order.
Antibabelic 1y ago
Doesn't seem to cover any logic programming, that's a shame.

76 points by parksb 1y ago

Waraqa 1y ago

[flagged]

koolala 1y ago
Is Scala actually special for doing this? Would Python equally work or JS / C wouldn't work because types?
- beanjuiceII 1y ago
  nah in fact scala will be one of the reasons very few people will read this book
- noelwelsh 1y ago
  Implementing a programming language is very easy when you have pattern matching and algebraic data types (which implies types). Python, JS, and C lack some or all of these. Scala is not special in this regard, though. Any modern language with FP ancestry will have these features.
  - koolala 1y ago
    So its good because of Scala's ability to implement a programming language and not Scala's language itself being good on its own for general abstract sudo like code. Or does Scala write cleanly (like people say Python does) and is also elegantly able to expands it's own simple syntax? It bugs me how languages like JS are clean but any custom domain-specific language made in them is ugly.
    - noelwelsh 1y ago
      For the authors of this book, I imagine it was a combination of Scala having the features they wanted, plus it being relatively popular, easy to install, and having good tooling. I've written a lot of Scala in the last 15 years or so, and I really like the language. It has features that most programmers are not familiar with, which can scare off some. My opinion is that if you understand the features it is a very elegant and simple language, particularly Scala 3.

CapnTrippy 1y ago

https://www-users.york.ac.uk/~ss44/joke/foot.htm https://www-users.york.ac.uk/~ss44/joke/foot.htm I find the above the best introduction to a programming language.

veltas 1y ago

Should be called "Introduction to Functional Programming Languages"

noelwelsh 1y ago
The order is which things are covered is pretty standard for programming languages. Chapters 11 and 12 cover mutation. PLAI (https://www.plai.org/ https://www.plai.org/) covers similar material in a similar order.

Antibabelic 1y ago

Doesn't seem to cover any logic programming, that's a shame.