Re:PHP: Cracks in the foundation
by masklinn on Sunday December 18, 2011 @10:01AM
(#3366713)
I'd say the APL experience alone also requires a significant bit of masochism. And while you'll be able to relate to things you've seen before, concepts alone are not sufficient to be proficient in the language, as I noted:
> concepts and techniques he's never seen so far and building up new instincts
"techniques" and "instincts" have to do with the language's idioms, tools and ecosystems. The tools (libraries) and part of the ecosystem may be similar to ones you knew, but you'll still need to learn the new ones. The idioms may very well be brand new.
To use a real-world example, while they're fundamentally based on the same concepts (class-based OO, dynamic single dispatch) Python is not Java [http://dirtsimple.org/2004/12/python-is-not-java.html]. And acquiring Python "instincts" after a significant time of Java is not easy. It's not hard either, but it's not the "5 days to complete proficiency" necro asserts. And those are ultimately very similar languages.
> concepts and techniques he's never seen so far and building up new instincts
"techniques" and "instincts" have to do with the language's idioms, tools and ecosystems. The tools (libraries) and part of the ecosystem may be similar to ones you knew, but you'll still need to learn the new ones. The idioms may very well be brand new.
To use a real-world example, while they're fundamentally based on the same concepts (class-based OO, dynamic single dispatch) Python is not Java [http://dirtsimple.org/2004/12/python-is-not-java.html]. And acquiring Python "instincts" after a significant time of Java is not easy. It's not hard either, but it's not the "5 days to complete proficiency" necro asserts. And those are ultimately very similar languages.