Functional programming is not popular because it is weird (2016)

Re:Functional programming is not popular because it is weird... by codetrotter on Tuesday September 14, 2021 @02:57AM (#28521239)

> If Netscape had decided to use a Scheme-like language or a BASIC-like language it would still be the most popular language in the world.

If whatever Netscape added as their scripting language had been too weird I think there is a good chance that a competing browser would’ve implemented a less weird language and that such a less weird language would have won over the hypothetical too weird language.

For me, Objective-C is too weird so I never bothered with it but I love Swift and only after Swift came out did I start making apps for iOS. And that’s even though I had been wanting to make mobile apps for iOS for a long time.

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Re:Functional programming is not popular because it is weird... by goto11 on Tuesday September 14, 2021 @03:17AM (#28521384)

Microsoft introduced VBScript support in Internet Explorer. VBScript was a variant of Visual Basic and therefore a lot more familiar than JavaScript. VB was already used in MS Office and a whole generation had learned programming starting with BASIC. But it didn't matter.

Nobody would use a language which wasn't supported by the browser with the largest market share, regardless of the merits of the language.

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