Your statement validates his statement. Just because R-based development teams are in number, does not make quality, and vice versa: APL or J programmers may be lower in numbers, but you may be getting better quality. The catapult was invented, and then forgotten, and had to be re-invented. In today's age with the internet, and the relatively short span of computer science, I must say I agree that the short-sightedness seems worse. I play with APL/J and I like Julia and Haskell. To me J (APL) are close to the succinctness and expressiveness of mathematical formula, and they work naturally with arrays, no batteries needed.