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A comment on Ask HN: Can someone explain to me why all languages don't try to have the same syntax?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Can someone explain to me why all languages don't... by jd on Sunday December 21, 2008 @10:56PM (#406046)
It seems you're disagreeing with a statement I never made.

The question was "If they did have the same syntax, would they be different languages?"

I replied: "Yes, they would be different because their semantics would be different"

I never said it would be a good thing. And by stretching your analogy to the territory of food it only becomes weaker (with food diversity is a goal by itself). Also it can be argued that using the same operating system for the vast majority of tasks is desirable.

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Re:Ask HN: Can someone explain to me why all languages don't... by aaronblohowiak on Sunday December 21, 2008 @11:47PM (#406090)
I don't think I disagreed with you.

I wanted to a) show how "one true syntax" would in itself be challenging and b) explain the utility that diversity has by analogy.

I agree that for most tasks, using a POSIX compliant unix-like system will suffice, but that's as much ground as I'm willing to concede on that point (for now ;)

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