Ask HN: Do you program in a language that you feel indifferent towards?
Maybe you don't have a choice in the language you use at work. Or maybe you chose a language for its features or performance even though you neither like or dislike the language. Does this sound like a familiar scenario? If so, what are your thoughts? How have you found the experience of using a language that you have no liking for?
That’s more-or-less how I feel about Python, it’s a solid language, first one I learned and only one used outside some C++ for school, for several years. But, after branching off into other languages, I’m just really not that interested in Python. Maybe it’s because I’m not particularly interested in ML or data science, which outside of it almost being the ubiquitous intro language, is really the big draw to it these days. I just don’t find Python sexy, which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just not as fun to use, which can also be a good thing as it can prevent some shitty hacks just because I wanted to code golf/try some obscure language features.
Though, I’m a bit of a language junky, I love playing with new languages that largely break away from the classic C Style. My daily languages I use, and actually deeply enjoy working with are Ruby, JS/TS (mostly TS now-a-days), and Elixir. Likely Haskell is the next language I’ll try to seriously learn, as it’s one I just want to check off my list. But, I’ve also dabbled around with rust, tried to drink the lisp koolaid, but couldn’t get past the (((())))))) - I hope one day to try again to see what the hype is about, and I occasionally check up on Idris, but I’m going to let that one mature a bit more/at least get Haskell under my belt before I give it a serious effort.
With all that said, Python is solid, but with all the other options out there, it just seems terribly boring. Maybe that’s largely due to my lack of meaningful work with it in the past few years, but I’m not at all interested in using it anymore. Also, the whole white space thing is a huge turn off, Which is one of the things I actually used to really like about it.
While I do like some programming languages more than others, I really like this attitude. After all, it's just a tool.
Personally, I am that kind of person that likes to experiment with a lot of languages to have a bigger toolset. So when I visit some subreddit related to a new language and I look for topics that would help me decide if that language is good for what I am looking for, I always find topics with people adoring the language and there is rarely any downsides mentioned. That kind of praise is just counterproductive and I don't understand why other people don't see it that way.
You're right, I don't feel passionate at all about programming languages or technologies. Not interesting anymore. I am passionate about solving problems, happy clients, and a solid reputation in my niche. And making a good living.
No feelings is a fine situation. Languages are just a tool.
But some tools are more powerful and/or easier to use.
Using R for work at the moment - what a mess. So many exceptions, silent errors, unexpected behaviour, special cases, 3 object-oriented systems in a non object-oriented language - each of them slightly different; lazy vs non-lazy evaluation, 3 different types of data frames - similar to each other (but not quite the same) and you can use the same operations and packages on some of them, but not always; the same algorithms implemented in different packages with a similar but slightly different syntax... and so on.
Many tools/languages that have a difficult learning curve also provide a significant payoff/increase in productivity when you master the tool. R is nothing like this. Learning all of the strange features just brings you up to a level where you can write code have it do what you expect it would do.
I had grown to dislike programming in Java over the years but once Java 8 was released it became tolerable again. I vastly prefer Kotlin these days.
The JVM is still my go to for any project. Go and especially Go 2 seem interesting but there's basically zero chance I'd be able to use it at work so... meh.
PHP basically. It's a blunt weapon, simple yet effective. And while using it, it's a lot like using a hammer. There's no emotion, which is not a bad thing.
Something like Kotlin, on the other hand, is so pleasurable that people often make up projects to have a reason to use it. Which is not necessarily a good thing.
Though, I’m a bit of a language junky, I love playing with new languages that largely break away from the classic C Style. My daily languages I use, and actually deeply enjoy working with are Ruby, JS/TS (mostly TS now-a-days), and Elixir. Likely Haskell is the next language I’ll try to seriously learn, as it’s one I just want to check off my list. But, I’ve also dabbled around with rust, tried to drink the lisp koolaid, but couldn’t get past the (((())))))) - I hope one day to try again to see what the hype is about, and I occasionally check up on Idris, but I’m going to let that one mature a bit more/at least get Haskell under my belt before I give it a serious effort.
With all that said, Python is solid, but with all the other options out there, it just seems terribly boring. Maybe that’s largely due to my lack of meaningful work with it in the past few years, but I’m not at all interested in using it anymore. Also, the whole white space thing is a huge turn off, Which is one of the things I actually used to really like about it.
Personally, I am that kind of person that likes to experiment with a lot of languages to have a bigger toolset. So when I visit some subreddit related to a new language and I look for topics that would help me decide if that language is good for what I am looking for, I always find topics with people adoring the language and there is rarely any downsides mentioned. That kind of praise is just counterproductive and I don't understand why other people don't see it that way.
But some tools are more powerful and/or easier to use.
Using R for work at the moment - what a mess. So many exceptions, silent errors, unexpected behaviour, special cases, 3 object-oriented systems in a non object-oriented language - each of them slightly different; lazy vs non-lazy evaluation, 3 different types of data frames - similar to each other (but not quite the same) and you can use the same operations and packages on some of them, but not always; the same algorithms implemented in different packages with a similar but slightly different syntax... and so on.
Many tools/languages that have a difficult learning curve also provide a significant payoff/increase in productivity when you master the tool. R is nothing like this. Learning all of the strange features just brings you up to a level where you can write code have it do what you expect it would do.
The JVM is still my go to for any project. Go and especially Go 2 seem interesting but there's basically zero chance I'd be able to use it at work so... meh.
Something like Kotlin, on the other hand, is so pleasurable that people often make up projects to have a reason to use it. Which is not necessarily a good thing.
For the last 8+ years I have written mostly in Java, professionally. I'd much rather write Python or C#, but I have to work in Java, at least for now.