new | show | ask | jobs Github

purplemoonx an hour ago

> There's more to a language than the syntax

Is like saying there’s more to a hammer than being a hammer.

Maybe you’re pretending the hammer is Thor’s Hammer and going on fantastic adventures slaying dragons.

I’m just building a table.

Edit: Damn -4 tell me how you really feel HN! Even my antisemitic posts are less downvoted, good for you guys

▲

citelao an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I think the more appropriate analogy is there's more to a drill than the drill. When you buy a Milwaukee drill, because it shares a battery with other Milwaukee parts, it's easier to buy more Milwaukee tools.

So it helps to choose a drill brand with the ecosystem you like, not just one that's a serviceable drill.

(Or you could argue that a language's ecosystem is part of the dang language. Which I agree with).

▲

giancarlostoro an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I still attribute a rich OOTB standard library for Go’s success. You have an OOTB production capable web HTTP server baked into the standard library since practically day 1?

	▲	purplemoonx an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Have you never heard of Node.js where they got the idea from

▲

purplemoonx an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Fair points, but those preferences seem more grounded in reality than the abstract reasons people say they love a language beyond its interface

▲

oblio an hour ago | parent [-]

Libraries and frameworks and package management absolutely matter. They're not some abstract thing, they could be the difference between something being done in 6 months or in 2 years.

Why do you think people put up with Spring?

	▲	purplemoonx 21 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		1000% that's why I said "Fair points" I consider npm to be part of "the interface of JavaScript" and to your point it's one of the strongest reasons beyond performance to use Node over some other dynamic language like Ruby or PHP. Python earned its keep mainly because of its library ecosystem (again to your point) but also due to its simple, teachable syntax. My point is that Python is not used because it's highly performant - it's basically the slowest language there is. But because people like the syntax and the library ecosystem (AKA the interface to the language)

▲

zaphar an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Comparing a languages syntax to a saw blade is a bad analogy. A saw is a complete tool. Syntax is more like the teeth on the saw blade. The quality of the saw is not just about the teeth. It's also about the size and spacing of those teeth, the strength of the blade those teeth are on, the shape of the saw blade itself, the hardness of the metal, as well as the shape of the handle.

If you are just building a table then hopefully you are not trying to do the whole thing with a keyhole saw.

▲

benj111 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

So 2 languages are the same if they have the same syntax but 1 is interpreted, and not safe, whereas the other is compiled and safe?

Where one has a large library and runs on many platforms, and the other doesn't?

Where one behaves like PHP with respect to equality, and the other doesn't?

The closer metaphor is the handle. A saw handle may be ergonomic, that doesn't mean the quality of the blade is good, or even suitable for what you're trying to cut.

	▲	purplemoonx 16 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> compiled vs interpreted Best rebuttal here - yeah didn't think of that obvious one! I had a larger point about language idealism / putting code on a pedestal vs getting the job done but yeah, this crowd can't handle that lmao