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Is there anything C# _doesn’t_ have? :-) It feels like C# has an answer to every problem I’ve ever had with other languages - dynamic loading, ADTs with patter

Is there anything C# _doesn’t_ have? :-) It feels like C# has an answer to every problem I’ve ever had with other languages - dynamic loading, ADTs with pattern matching, functional programming, whatever this expression tree is, reflection, etc etc. Yet somehow it’s still a niche language that isn't widely used (outside of particular ecosystems).

rjbwork 1y ago
It's one of the most widely used languages out there actually. But it's primarily used at buttoned up and boring SMB's/enterprise backoffices. We're not out here touting our new framework of the month to kafloogle the whatzit. We're just building systems with a good language and ecosystem that's getting better every year. I've worked only at startups/small businesses since I graduated university and it's all been in C#.
- brainzap 1y ago
  getting better? many packages we been using did a license swap on us xD fucking nice ecosystem
  - rjbwork 1y ago
    Fork it. End of the day some guys decided they wanted to make money and the corporations profiting off their labor weren't paying up. These things don't happen in a vacuum. Does your company have a multi-thousand dollar a year budget to make sure your dependencies are sustainable?
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
uzerfcwn 1y ago
> Is there anything C# _doesn’t_ have? Pi types, existential types and built-in macros to name a few.
- moomin 1y ago
  Sum types are the ones I really miss. The others would be nice but processing heterogeneous streams is my biggest practical issue.
vaylian 1y ago
It's funny how C# started out as a Java clone and then added a ton of features while Java stayed very conservative with new language features. And both languages are fine.
garblegarble 1y ago
>Is there anything C# _doesn’t_ have? You were maybe already getting at it, but as a kitchen sink language the answer is "simplicity". All these diverse language features increase cognitive load when reading code, so it's a complexity/utility tradeoff
dominicrose 1y ago
As someone who dislikes clutter, in my experience it's just easier to read and write with these languages: Perl, PHP, Ruby, Python, Javascript, Smalltalk. If you dare leave the safety of a compiler you'll find that Sublime Merge can still save you when rewriting a whole part of an app. That and manual testing (because automatic testing is also clutter). If you think it's more professional to have a compiler I'd like to agree but then why did I run into a PHP job when looking for a Typescript one? Not an uncommon unfolding of events.
- FungalRaincloud 1y ago
  I'm a bit surprised that you put PHP in that list. My current workload is in it, and a relatively modern version of it, so maybe that surprise will turn around soon, but I've always felt that PHP was more obnoxious than even C to read and write. Granted, I started out on LISP. My version of "easy to read and write" might be slightly masochistic. But I love Perl and Python and Javascript are definitely "you can jump in and get shit done if you have worked in most languages. It might not be idiomatic, but it'll work"...
  - dominicrose 1y ago
    PHP is easy to get into because of the simple (and tolerant) syntax and extremely simple static typing system. The weak typing also means it's easier for beginners. It does require twice the lines of PHP code to make a Ruby or Python program equivalent, or more if you add phpdoc and static types though, so it is easier to read/write Ruby or Python, but only after learning the details of the language. Ruby's syntax is very expressive but very complex if you don't know it by heart.
gwbas1c 1y ago
Good abstractions around units (Apologies if there is a specific terminology that I should use.) Specifically, I'd like to be able to have "inches" as a generic type, where it could be an int, long, float, double. Then I'd also like to have "length" as a generic type where it could be inches as a double, millimeters as a long, ect, ect. I know they added generic numbers to the language in C# 7, so maybe there is a way to do it?
- evntdrvn 1y ago
  Check out F# "units of measure" ;)

rjbwork 1y ago

It's one of the most widely used languages out there actually. But it's primarily used at buttoned up and boring SMB's/enterprise backoffices. We're not out here touting our new framework of the month to kafloogle the whatzit. We're just building systems with a good language and ecosystem that's getting better every year. I've worked only at startups/small businesses since I graduated university and it's all been in C#.

brainzap 1y ago
getting better? many packages we been using did a license swap on us xD fucking nice ecosystem
- rjbwork 1y ago
  Fork it. End of the day some guys decided they wanted to make money and the corporations profiting off their labor weren't paying up. These things don't happen in a vacuum. Does your company have a multi-thousand dollar a year budget to make sure your dependencies are sustainable?

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

uzerfcwn 1y ago

> Is there anything C# _doesn’t_ have? Pi types, existential types and built-in macros to name a few.

moomin 1y ago
Sum types are the ones I really miss. The others would be nice but processing heterogeneous streams is my biggest practical issue.

vaylian 1y ago

It's funny how C# started out as a Java clone and then added a ton of features while Java stayed very conservative with new language features. And both languages are fine.

garblegarble 1y ago

>Is there anything C# _doesn’t_ have? You were maybe already getting at it, but as a kitchen sink language the answer is "simplicity". All these diverse language features increase cognitive load when reading code, so it's a complexity/utility tradeoff

dominicrose 1y ago

As someone who dislikes clutter, in my experience it's just easier to read and write with these languages: Perl, PHP, Ruby, Python, Javascript, Smalltalk. If you dare leave the safety of a compiler you'll find that Sublime Merge can still save you when rewriting a whole part of an app. That and manual testing (because automatic testing is also clutter). If you think it's more professional to have a compiler I'd like to agree but then why did I run into a PHP job when looking for a Typescript one? Not an uncommon unfolding of events.

FungalRaincloud 1y ago
I'm a bit surprised that you put PHP in that list. My current workload is in it, and a relatively modern version of it, so maybe that surprise will turn around soon, but I've always felt that PHP was more obnoxious than even C to read and write. Granted, I started out on LISP. My version of "easy to read and write" might be slightly masochistic. But I love Perl and Python and Javascript are definitely "you can jump in and get shit done if you have worked in most languages. It might not be idiomatic, but it'll work"...
- dominicrose 1y ago
  PHP is easy to get into because of the simple (and tolerant) syntax and extremely simple static typing system. The weak typing also means it's easier for beginners. It does require twice the lines of PHP code to make a Ruby or Python program equivalent, or more if you add phpdoc and static types though, so it is easier to read/write Ruby or Python, but only after learning the details of the language. Ruby's syntax is very expressive but very complex if you don't know it by heart.

gwbas1c 1y ago

Good abstractions around units (Apologies if there is a specific terminology that I should use.) Specifically, I'd like to be able to have "inches" as a generic type, where it could be an int, long, float, double. Then I'd also like to have "length" as a generic type where it could be inches as a double, millimeters as a long, ect, ect. I know they added generic numbers to the language in C# 7, so maybe there is a way to do it?

evntdrvn 1y ago
Check out F# "units of measure" ;)