[OT] Sharp Regrets: Top 10 Worst C# Features

[Chris via Digitalmars-d]

On Wednesday, 19 August 2015 at 01:12:36 UTC, Adam D. Ruppe wrote:
> I just saw this link come by my desktop and I thought it was an 
> interesting read because D does a lot of these things too, and 
> avoids some of them:
>
> http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2425867
>
> I don't agree they are all mistakes, but it is a pretty quick 
> and interesting read.

#5 More than anything a matter of personal taste. However, I find 
the type-to-the-left syntax pretty handy, because in my part of 
the world we read from left to right and thus I know immediately 
what a function returns (unless it says `auto` :-)) or what a 
variable is supposed to be, which is the most important bit of 
information for me. To be honest, that there are variables in 
code is so common that they don't need to be "announced" with 
`var x : number`, I find it rather annoying. Plus, this argument 
doesn't hold, imho:

"From both programming and mathematics, we have the convention 
that the result of the computation is notated to the right, so 
it's weird that in C-like languages the type is on the left."

A convention, that's right. But who said it's a good thing, 
because it's a convention? And see, here's the contradiction:

"The lesson: When you're designing a new language, don't 
slavishly follow the bizarre conventions of predecessor 
languages."

Well, maybe that's exactly what the designers of C did, they 
didn't slavishly follow the convention that the result of the 
computation is notated to the right. Maybe they thought, 'Uh, 
actually, wouldn't it be handier to see immediately what type it 
is?'.

Has the argument that tpye-to-the-right is easier for beginners 
has ever been proven?

#3 Here we go again... I wonder what's the problem with this. I 
still think it's a very handy shorthand for cumbersome `x = x + 
1` or even `x += 1`. And no, it's not confusing, because it is 
well defined as incrementing the value by 1. In fact, I don't 
like Python's patronizing insistence in having to write `x = x + 
1`.

And hey, it's just conventions. As long as the meaning is well 
defined, there's no problem. It's like spelling "colour" or 
"color", it doesn't really matter.