Worst ideas/features in programming

[ClapTrap]

On Wednesday, 27 October 2021 at 01:05:22 UTC, Ola Fosheim 
Grøstad wrote:
> On Tuesday, 26 October 2021 at 23:59:34 UTC, ClapTrap wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 26 October 2021 at 22:11:29 UTC, Ola Fosheim 
>> Grøstad wrote:
>>
>> Is that why you bought it? So you can feel cool?
>
> What do you mean? Stihl and Husqvarna are technically 
> comparable, but I prefer Husqvarna, which is nordic and looks 
> and feels better. Basically an identity issue.

Exactly!! If they are technically comparable then you would 
choose the one that looks more nordic. If this identity nonsense 
comes in it only does so after technical requirements are met.

And chainsaws are pretty simple machines, I mean in terms of 
design they are pretty much all at the same place. So you can 
probably find very similarly specced machines by all the big 
manufacturers.

Programming languages are not like that, they're not technically 
comparable, you pick any two languages you can find a shed load 
of technical reasons to chose one over the other.


>> Fashion, or thinking how they tie into my ego, didn't factor 
>> into the decision to buy them.
>
> Nobody thinks about identity issues, but they are there for 
> sure. How can you know that one tool is better than any other 
> tool, or what is good enough? You dont know until it breaks. So 
> you navigate by some external source.

You read up on the web, or you ask someone you think will be able 
to help. But you don't go and ask them "I need a chainsaw, which 
is the most nordic?".

Or maybe you do? :)


>> It's not hype plays into peoples ideas about themselves. It's 
>> not "Learn Java and be cool", its "Write once run anywhere".
>
> I am fully aware that PhP is sufficient for webwork, but I 
> don't feel empowered when using it. It does not feel like a 
> professional tool, and that has a lot to do with syntax. From a 
> rational point of view, you might argue that PhP is just as 
> good as any other tool. But it does not fit with my identity.

Saying PhP is just as good as any other tool is not a rational 
point of view.

And if you use statements like that in your reasoning then you 
end up in stupid places where you cant dislike like something 
just because it's crap. It has to be because it doesn't fit your 
identity.