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Re:What is going on with measures of programming language po... by fabian2k on Monday October 01, 2018 @04:33PM (#18116589)
I'm not convinced that SE activity measures difficulty. But it certainly is affected by much more than just popularity. I could imagine it measuring the total API surface, as you can ask more questions about larger subjects.

It's certainly a deeply flawed measure, but then pure search engine hits like TIOBE are likely much worse.

Re:What is going on with measures of programming language po... by weberc2 on Monday October 01, 2018 @05:28PM (#18116982)
To be clear, I don't think it measures difficulty, but difficulty is necessarily a driver of the metric. A complex language is going to generate more questions than a small, intuitive language.
Re:What is going on with measures of programming language po... by marcosdumay on Monday October 01, 2018 @09:47PM (#18118216)
Specifically, complexity will generate more questions than difficulty.
Re:What is going on with measures of programming language po... by weberc2 on Tuesday October 02, 2018 @12:14AM (#18118745)
No, it can’t by definition. Complexity is a type of difficulty. :)