Re:Minimalism in programming language design
by avgcorrection on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @11:37AM
(#31493501)
> I don't think she's presenting the "maximalist design approach" as a good thing, eh?
The article is predicated on the assumption that this maximalist design is popular. But I have argued that it isn’t.
A polemic needs an adversary. If not then it’s not a polemic and instead just a feel-good article about what most people agree on to begin with. Programming languages should be simple? And certainly not go out of its way to be complicated? Hmm, yes. yawn.
Re:Minimalism in programming language design
by carapace on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @04:00PM
(#31496872)
Ah, I see. You're objecting to the "Most modern programming languages" part, eh? It would be interesting to investigate the subject more deeply. Like I said, I was thinking of Python and JavaScript, but you're right, there are lots of modern languages now, and many are very carefully designed (e.g. Elm.)
> The quoted paragraph seems like a caricature of the design process of a langauge. (sic)
It sounds like what's happening e.g. Python or JavaScript, the "design process" seems to be to add features, and then add features to your features so you can program while you program.