> Why is it necessary to compare "language sizes" at all? It seems relevant in the context of how difficult it is to master a given language, which spawned thi

> Why is it necessary to compare "language sizes" at all? It seems relevant in the context of how difficult it is to master a given language, which spawned this thread of debate. Do you disagree that language size is any sort of barrier? Again, only one metric, to be taken with a measure of salt. But would you prefer we compare languages based on gut feel? Or is comparing languages unnecessary as well? > It's as pointless as the classic vim vs. emacs argument. Understanding the merits of vim vs. emacs informs you which you might prefer. The answer to that argument, over which is "ultimately better" is certainly pointless. You can simply choose whichever works best for you, especially as you can change your mind mostly at will. But people don't simply have the choice of "choose whichever works best for you" when it comes to programming languages on a team project. Nor are languages as fungible as editors when it comes to changing your mind - switching languages mid-project is a massive time sink, and frequently fatal to the project.