[aklug] Re: Some pictures from a developers life

* Christopher Howard <christopher.howard@frigidcode.com> [130302 13:05]:
> On 03/02/2013 07:33 AM, Tim Johnson wrote:
> > They are no more real than python - I've used python for 10 years
> > and the more I use it the better I like it. Jobs are real.
> >
>
> "Real" is certainly an ambiguous word, one which I picked to avoid more
> offensive ones. However, I don't want to give them impression that I am
> trying to pick on Python -- there's a lot of languages I don't like, for
> fundamental reasons, and I imagine that among them Python is one of the
> better languages.
>
> Fundamentally, of course, Python is not a functional programming
> language, though it does borrow a few syntax elements. It is nice to see
> Python has anonymous functions. It doesn't have native
> currying/partial-application support, though I guess there are various
> ways to fake that.
>
> Personally, after using a powerful, polymorphic, algebraic type system
> like you get in Haskell, duck typing is no fun. In Haskell, working out
> the logic of your program is pretty much the same thing as working out
> the type transformations. And you can abstract to insanely high levels
> (depending on your powers of mathematics and imagination).
>
> Not to compare Python to Haskell on every point, but it is unfortunate
> that Python didn't choose a more "free" system of white space handling.
> Haskell doesn't require semicolons or braces either, but it still allows
> you to arrange indentation and line breaks in whatever way you think is
> most beautiful.

  And it is most unfortunate that shared hosters embraced PHP the
  way that they did at the expense of other systems.

  If I had work where the client didn't care what code I was
  writing, I might be writing in haskell. But if I had to hand-roll
  libs in haskell whose functionality was already available in
  python, then the dilemma would be : Do I charge the client for the
  extra time? Or do I eat it?

  And of course, the nature of the target application can figure
  into the choice of the development platform. And there might be
  applications where haskell would trump python in times of
  development cost.

-- 
Tim 
tim at tee jay forty nine dot com or akwebsoft dot com
http://www.akwebsoft.com
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