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Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

ponylang.io

21–30 of 284 posts

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#21
post #17

I wish these language websites would put an example of some code right there on the homepage so I can see what the language "feels" like. I finally found some code in the tutorials https://tutorial.ponylang.io/getting-started/hello-world

Honestly, I get it. The document wants to tell you what's new and different under the hood, not what the language looks like superficially. Code examples don't actually tell you what the language feels like in production. It's kinda like judging a person's character by how they dress. I would be torn if I had to write intro documentation like this. On the one hand, people demand code examples, but on the other hand,…

Yea but the syntax looks like a mix of Python and JavaScript. By just seeing that I know I don’t want to use it, by seeing the code up front I know that I don’t want to keep reading what ever rationalizations they have to justify the existence of this language.

So by seeing the syntax up front I can save a lot of time because in a world where there are many languages that do the same thing it really boils down to using the one with the syntax that you like the most.

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#22
post #17

I wish these language websites would put an example of some code right there on the homepage so I can see what the language "feels" like. I finally found some code in the tutorials https://tutorial.ponylang.io/getting-started/hello-world

Honestly, I get it. The document wants to tell you what's new and different under the hood, not what the language looks like superficially. Code examples don't actually tell you what the language feels like in production. It's kinda like judging a person's character by how they dress. I would be torn if I had to write intro documentation like this. On the one hand, people demand code examples, but on the other hand,…

On the homepage, just move the descriptions to the left a bit, and put a big block on the right side where there is some example code that shows off the concepts a bit. It's not like they're struggling for space

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#23
post #7

I gave it an honest look for 5 minutes and after still only having found a 3-line hello world I gave up (and came here to complain). It's great that you have all that philosophy behind it, all sounded great, but if you don't show me a compelling example in the first minute or two, not even in tutorial, then you'll fail to capture my interest.

dang recently pointed me to the HN guidelines. I think this one applies here:

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Example pony applications: https://github.com/ponylang/ponyc/tree/main/examples Playground: https://playground.ponylang.io/ They're on HP https://www.ponylang.io/ unfortunately the article link points to /discover/

Sure, if I go dig deep I'll find that. But I was talking about the sales pitch. Once it's necessary to go click links in a levels-down comment in the HN discussion section, you've already lost most folks.

They aren't selling anything, and they didn't write their documentation with HN in mind ... the OP is probably not associated with them.

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#27
post #18
post #7

I gave it an honest look for 5 minutes and after still only having found a 3-line hello world I gave up (and came here to complain). It's great that you have all that philosophy behind it, all sounded great, but if you don't show me a compelling example in the first minute or two, not even in tutorial, then you'll fail to capture my interest.

I personally found the descriptions of the concepts and ideas more illuminating and interesting than a code example. If you're only looking to nitpick the superficial syntax, kinda like judging a person's character by how they dress, then I guess you're not in the target audience for this documentation.

And you cannot have both at the same time, because...?

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#28
Sorry for another complaint, but after skimming through I only see boasting paragraphs without any real information

If I click "why pony" i want to know when to use it. I want to decide for myself if I want to use this

I couldn't find a page where it's clear if I should invest my time in it

How to do this: - examples - companies/projects who use X - what this language aims to do - what this language is good at

Re: Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language

#30

I wish these language websites would put an example of some code right there on the homepage so I can see what the language "feels" like. I finally found some code in the tutorials https://tutorial.ponylang.io/getting-started/hello-world

Even caling this an example is a stretch... it's a hello world...that's it. I mean, at least show some conditionals, or something. We get it, your language is amazing, ok, so...can we see it now?
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