[ale] [OT] Rev Bayes and the best programming language

[DJ-Pfulio]

Agree. I "like" programming in Ruby.  It has issues, but the enjoyment is real.

Most people like programming in Python - for the reasons I HATE, HATE, HATE,
using it. They strive to have only 1-way to do something.

Perl5 is a beautiful language that allows experts to do pretty much anything,
fast.  Cannot speak for Perl6, but it was designed to address the issues with
Perl5 like elegant multi-threaded programming. Getting passed "noob" level takes
some work.  TMTOWTDI -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_more_than_one_way_to_do_it - this can
drive beginners crazy, but lets experts use exactly the best method for the
specific situation.

Php is completely off my list due to so, so, so, so many issues with the
language and security. I believe that experts in php *can* write secure
programs, but 95% of all php seems to be written by noobs and is extremely risky
to use on any public website.  IMHO.

Go is very interesting, but it will be a niche language that requires extra
effort to use mainly because it isn't popular and only CS/engineers have been
using it so far.  I'd put Go on the same level as Perl6 - though I know next to
nothing about either besides "hello world."

If you are into IT security, many new projects are using python.

If you are interested in languages, spend some time looking at each language on
rosettacode.org . Compare the different solutions in the different languages.
That will help make a more informed decision.

                IMHO ....
Most 1st-time programmers should start with Python (or whatever they get paid to
know). ;)
Most people who want to become expert programmers should learn C as their 2nd or
3rd language.  After that, learn whatever you need to get the job done or to be
well-paid.  Heck, some people even enjoy java (yuck!) or C# or Delphi or R or
Haskell and use it to pay their mortgages.

Choice. That's a good thing.

BTW, I've used about 30 different languages in my career.
Ruby is by far the most enjoyable, but it has lots of warts too - bundle, gems,
Rails ... good ideas each, but their implementation leaves much behind.  Ruby is
sorta slow, the gem tool needs way, way, way too much RAM to be useful, but CPUs
and RAM are cheap if you don't rent them by the month.  Far cheaper than
programmer time.

Seems we go over this same thing every 3 months.  Line in the sand and move on?




On 05/07/2016 11:38 AM, Pete Hardie wrote:
> Since Ruby seems to rank highly for you, Python might be worth a look - people
> who know both say they are similar, but seem to generate partisan feeling.