5 ms·

> My point is that you can be writing useful programs in c in a weekend. We'll need to define criteria for "useful program" but I believe most people could wri

> My point is that you can be writing useful programs in c in a weekend. We'll need to define criteria for "useful program" but I believe most people could write useful programs in most languages in a weekend. > I've watched competent programmers try to learn complex languages like Haskell and Scala > far more complex mental model I think its more that those languages are different, not that they require a more complex mental model.

sctechie 12y ago
Can we at least agree here that complexity implies a larger cognitive burden? I think that's a pretty benign statement to begin from regardless of the domain (programming, cooking, games, etc). A complex recipe rewards a chef with exceptional results if they follow it perfectly, but also presents more opportunities to fail. A simple recipe might not offer the results but it should be easier to produce with a lower chance to mess up. I think the concept generalizes here.
- codygman 12y ago
  > Can we at least agree here that complexity implies a larger cognitive burden? Right, but remember simple doesn't necessarily mean easy. The reason I use functional languages is because in my experience they handle complexity better. > A complex recipe rewards a chef with exceptional results if they follow it perfectly, but also presents more opportunities to fail. A simple recipe might not offer the results but it should be easier to produce with a lower chance to mess up. > I think the concept generalizes here I of course mostly agree to both of the above, but I think you are mis-characterizing functional languages such as Haskell which are simple but quite different from languages most are used to.
- tome 12y ago
  > A complex recipe rewards a chef with exceptional results if they follow it perfectly, but also presents more opportunities to fail. Agreed, which is why I prefer to implement complex ideas in Haskell. It catches more potential errors than other languages.

sctechie 12y ago

Can we at least agree here that complexity implies a larger cognitive burden? I think that's a pretty benign statement to begin from regardless of the domain (programming, cooking, games, etc). A complex recipe rewards a chef with exceptional results if they follow it perfectly, but also presents more opportunities to fail. A simple recipe might not offer the results but it should be easier to produce with a lower chance to mess up. I think the concept generalizes here.

codygman 12y ago
> Can we at least agree here that complexity implies a larger cognitive burden? Right, but remember simple doesn't necessarily mean easy. The reason I use functional languages is because in my experience they handle complexity better. > A complex recipe rewards a chef with exceptional results if they follow it perfectly, but also presents more opportunities to fail. A simple recipe might not offer the results but it should be easier to produce with a lower chance to mess up. > I think the concept generalizes here I of course mostly agree to both of the above, but I think you are mis-characterizing functional languages such as Haskell which are simple but quite different from languages most are used to.
tome 12y ago
> A complex recipe rewards a chef with exceptional results if they follow it perfectly, but also presents more opportunities to fail. Agreed, which is why I prefer to implement complex ideas in Haskell. It catches more potential errors than other languages.