wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) (12/03/88)
There are too many programming languages.
Anybody who disagrees with that statement violently can now skip this article;
let's avoid unnecessary gastric distress.
There are too many programming languages.
My job is helping software vendors convert their products onto my company's
UNIX systems. That job would be considerably easier if there were fewer
languages in use. Others would benefit as well: if vendors did not have to
waste time and money converting their software, prices could be lower.
My objective is to persuade people that programming in "minority language"
(those not widely used) is bad in many ways.
(1) It reduces reusability of software
(2) It fragments the software community
(3) It necessitates wheel reinvention
(4) it wastes programmer's time in learning the same concept in lots of
different languages
(5) it is a misuse of the language designers' time: they could be solving
useful problems.
I do not wish to retard progress in language development.
I think that every computer science graduate student should have a
constitutional right to design 3 new languages in his/her lifetime.
Designing computer programming languages is like using narcotics: people do it
whether you want them to or not, so why not legalize it? :-)
I also think that if a programming language has not proven itself in 10-15
years by being widely used throughout the world, it should be taken out and
shot [ the language, not the designer :-) ] ! To avoid further agitation, I
will not here claim that anybody's favorite language falls into this category.
I think that a language is like a paradigm as in Kuhn's book on scientific
revolutions: It should be criticized until it has proven itself, then it
should be adopted widely. My image is that of a classical physicist waking
up one morning in the 1920's and saying "By Jove, the Copenhagen interpretation
is correct!" or "Eureka! I am certain that Heisenberg has it right!" (pun
intended).
Remember, though, if I seem to be flaming your favorite language, I am not
really doing so: I am performing a useful public service, out of pure, selfless
altruism!
--
Bill Hutchison, DP Consultant rutgers!liberty!burdvax!ubbpc!wgh
Unisys UNIX Portation Center "What one fool can do, another can!"
P.O. Box 500, M.S. B121 Ancient Simian Proverb, quoted by
Blue Bell, PA 19424 Sylvanus P. Thompson, in _Calculus Made Easy_tony@rlgvax.UUCP (Tony Stuart) (12/05/88)
In article <418@ubbpc.UUCP>, wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) writes: > There are too many programming languages. One could say the same thing about editors, word processors, spreadsheets, data base management systems, operating systems, computer hardware and much more. And there is no reason to stay within the computer field. One could argue that there are too too many different styles of automobiles, too may different kinds of houses and of course, too many human languages. :-) > My job is helping software vendors convert their products onto my company's > UNIX systems. That job would be considerably easier if there were fewer > languages in use. From this perspective fewer programming languages would certainly help. I agree that common programming languages should be used in commercial software development. But that does not mean that new languages should not be developed. There are numerous reasons for developing new languages, including the solution of specific problems, the introduction of new programming paradigms and functionality, and of course the old favorites, fame and fortune. > My objective is to persuade people that programming in "minority language" > (those not widely used) is bad in many ways. Is any language that is not already in common use a minority language? How can a new language ever become a "majority" language unless it passes through a period of being a minority language? The problem with discouraging the design and use of new languages is that it assumes the best is already available. It's kind of like the argument at the turn of the century for closing the patent office "because everything had already been invented." -- Anthony F. Stuart, {uunet|sundc}!rlgvax!tony CCI, 11490 Commerce Park Drive, Reston, VA 22091