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Blue collar worker just usually means "one who is uneducated and unskilled". Putting that onto languages is sort of demeaning... it sounds like that's not real
by NateDad 13y ago
Blue collar worker just usually means "one who is uneducated and unskilled". Putting that onto languages is sort of demeaning... it sounds like that's not really what you meant, though, and that's cool, just my misunderstanding of your meaning.
- pron 13y agoThat's just how James Gosling described Java when he explained the philosophy behind it in 1997[1]. He wrote, "Java is a blue collar language. It’s not PhD thesis material but a language for a job. Java feels very familiar to many different programmers because I had a very strong tendency to prefer things that had been used a lot over things that just sounded like a good idea." He most certainly didn't intend the term to be demeaning, but more to contrast it with research languages that include features that are untried and unproven. The term has since been used as shorthand for Java's (and languages like it) goals and philosophy. [1]: http://dfjug.org/thefeelofjava.pdf http://dfjug.org/thefeelofjava.pdf
- bradleyjg 13y agoUneducated I'll give you, though probably it should be qualified by something like formally educated, but blue collar certainly does not mean unskilled. The paradigmatic blue collar job to my mind is not taking orders at McDonalds, it's welding.
- NateDad 13y agoI knew I should have qualified that more. You're right, McDonald's is not blue collar, but working in a manufacturing plant riveting part A to part B is. It also encompasses stuff like mechanics and welders that do require skill and even some education and certification. But regardless, most of the time it's still used to mean something lesser.