Re:Ask HN: Why is functional programming not more popular?
by quickthrower2 on Wednesday November 06, 2019 @12:53AM
(#21460047)
The space to breath argument is interesting. I like Elm because there is no room to “breath” in the sense you can’t do all the bad old JS stuff. That’s what makes it useful: Guarantees. In other words way fewer bugs where something weird happens and no one can fix it.
1. Shut up about monads. “Monads” sound like a bad D&D monster. No one cares about either of those things
2. Benefits sell, not mechanisms. Show me the benefits in a way that solves my problem without warping my brain around in the process, and I’ll buy it.
3. Every new paradigm has a ‘gap’ that must be overcome, a proverbial “click” of a new brain-circuit forming, before understanding/enlightenment is possible. This process is accelerated by direct experience, but slowed glacially by overly formal abstract presentations
4. Stop trying to show me how hip/smart/woke/l33t you are by spouting FPisms; that impresses no one, bores most, and makes you look like a poseur. Benefits, McCoy.
5. I love Scala, but it’s an acquired taste that didn’t happen overnight, and it started as a non-threatening “better Java” path that led to self discovery through refactoring. Please Give us space to breathe and languages that don’t cause Calculus 101 PTSD flashbacks.