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You started off this comment thread by asking what kind of research was done to achieve something that is usable. I like that tact because it implies that "usab

You started off this comment thread by asking what kind of research was done to achieve something that is usable. I like that tact because it implies that "usability" isn't something you can reason about from first principles and come up with the right answer to, "Is this software usable?" Instead, it acknowledges the fact that usability should be data driven. What do people using it think? But your last few comments in this thread seem to have taken a different tact. You've projected some definition of usability that you hold instead of acknowledging that others may think differently. For examples, I can promise you that the Go authors don't think they "prioritized simplicity over usability." They would say that Go is very usable because it is simple. You disagree, and that's totally cool, but we should be careful to frame it as a difference in perspective. P.S. Rust and Go are very usable (to me). :-)

smt88 12y ago
I can see where you're coming from, but I've posted a lot of comments on this topic, and I absolutely acknowledge that I don't feel certain about these things. For example, I'm not certain that I agree with Go authors that "simplicity = usability", but I really don't know. I plan to master Go, and then maybe I'll have a better idea. I've also acknowledged that even my definition of "simplicity" isn't the same as everyone else's. You seem to be reacting to my argument that boilerplate != usability, and I stand by that. Typing the same thing over and over is fragile, and it's antithetical to the concept of programming. If there's anything that I can say with absolute certainty is vital to usable programming, it's DRY. Other than that, I really am curious to know what usability really means. I've seen a lot of interesting studies on HN that contradict commonly held notions (e.g. refactor often). It'd be so cool and important for a language to base itself entirely off of such research, rather than a small group's experiences.

smt88 12y ago

I can see where you're coming from, but I've posted a lot of comments on this topic, and I absolutely acknowledge that I don't feel certain about these things. For example, I'm not certain that I agree with Go authors that "simplicity = usability", but I really don't know. I plan to master Go, and then maybe I'll have a better idea. I've also acknowledged that even my definition of "simplicity" isn't the same as everyone else's. You seem to be reacting to my argument that boilerplate != usability, and I stand by that. Typing the same thing over and over is fragile, and it's antithetical to the concept of programming. If there's anything that I can say with absolute certainty is vital to usable programming, it's DRY. Other than that, I really am curious to know what usability really means. I've seen a lot of interesting studies on HN that contradict commonly held notions (e.g. refactor often). It'd be so cool and important for a language to base itself entirely off of such research, rather than a small group's experiences.