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Programming language agnosticism is the only way to move forward in life

36 points by amano-kenji ↗ HN
I'm not going to speak about specific languages because they will distract readers.

What I discovered over years is that I should just use the right tools for each job. Trying to use a specific language outside its well-established niches resulted in a lot of wasted time.

You can spend years on silencing every little inconvenience and every little noise by trying to use a specific language everywhere. That doesn't work. Resisting every little inconvenience will only result in more friction in life. Ignore little inconveniences and little noises. Just swim with the flow by using the right tools for each job. Don't swim against it by obsessing with specific tools.

If you want to move forward in life, you have to just suck it up and use the right languages for each task.

You may not like the fact that a specific language doesn't have specific constructs, but it can get this current job done quickly without fuss.

Developing attachment to a specific language that's not going to maintain its sharp edge for very long anyway will only lead to time waste and disappointments.

Screw programming languages. Just focus on accomplishing the task at hand quickly.

If your life satisfaction depends on using specific programming languages, you won't have a good life. Just get things done, and move on, and enjoy free time and wealth.

To have the best life possible or even just a good life, most of the time, you will just have to use tools you don't particularly like and have to do things you don't feel like doing.

Are you trying to have fun with programming languages? Or, are you trying to get things done quickly in programming languages? Speed is infinitely more important than fun.

13 comments

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sky2224
In my case, I use Lisp because I'm trying to cause a Racket.
0xCE0
Computer executes only one programming language: its own machine code. Everything else is just people's own mess of how to convert something that usually resembles English to this machine code.
austin-cheney
I feel the same way about OOP. When OOP was invented in the 70s and then popularized in C++ it solved real problems of scaling software with critical memory limitations. Now it’s just code style. It’s now excess unnecessary code to provide a familiar architecture that really gets in the way.

I just want to solve my software problems with portable solutions without excess decoration and vanity. My career has shown me the more code decorations a developer requires to deliver an application the more they are concerned about themselves and their own needs as opposed to the software problem/solution.

frou_dh
Certain domains are a lot more wide open than others though. If you want to develop a command-line program that does something with files and possibly the network, then many many languages are suitable. If you want to develop a proper desktop GUI application (using mature design/layout tooling, naturally) then the field of suitable languages is cut down massively, and trying to shoehorn one in is indeed inadvisable.
moomoo11
The only people who obsess over languages are the core contributors (1%) or the guy who has been a mid level senior for 20 years and kind of stopped growing/learning years ago (95%)

Everyone else is the SWE turned entrepreneur who doesn’t give a fuck and just wants fastest ROI. Aka using a hammer instead of a saw to put in a nail.

ivape
I don’t agree with this. If you found your favorite type of car, then that’s your preference. Each car can take you to roughly same place (unless you have a specific use case like off-road). If you a preference for a language, but your use case needs another language, then use case trumps preference. It’s silly to belittle a language preference given the facts.

Some languages and ecosystems are delightful to work with and people absolutely make reasonable trade offs to stay in them.

moomoo11
That’s not what I said at all in relation to the OP.

You and I agree. We are discussing people who don’t understand this nuance. That’s the majority of people I’ve met.

That’s why i said we use a hammer for a nail, and not a saw. Aka using the tool that makes sense.

Bolwin
> Are you trying to have fun with programming languages? Or, are you trying to get things done quickly in programming languages? Speed is infinitely more important than fun.

I mean what if I am trying to have fun?

I'm only half joking. For work, your philosophy is correct. But at home, it's fine to give up a little convenience if you have more fun with a different language.

hshdhdhehd
Why not both? For work or commerce, best tool. But have a passion project in your beloved language.
codegladiator
Each passion project should be built in the language most suitable for that project, not based on love.
journal
Complexity is job security for less intelligent. The world is full of these senior developers holding onto their $100k+ jobs when all they do is sit in meetings all day.