If you can, choose a statically typed language over a dynamically typed one. Reason: more errors are caught earlier during development. The rest of the article is (in my opinion) really just pro-scala talk.
8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
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Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#22This article really didn't get an objective analysis. The Scala language looks interesting, but the biggest "push" towards it was a graph of the job outlook, with the y axis at the scale of... .04? 4%? Is that supposed to convince me to use this in the industry, and apply my time? I understand the article comes from scala-academy, but I think by offering a more objective viewpoint of different languages and the stand…
You can read a bit more about those scala features (in this case compared to java) in this other article: http://www.scala-academy.com/resources/java-vs-scala
"Is that supposed to convince me to use this in the industry, and apply my time?" I say in the article: «- Does this mean that I should use Scala? Can you get a job you like programming Scala? If so, then: yes! (Otherwise, unless you're rich, you need to pay your bills...)» If don't think you can get a job programming Scala (because of where you live, or another reason) I explicitly say you shouldn't learn it! :)
But the rate at which Scala jobs are becoming available is relevant: I don't care if there are 200 Java jobs near me, as long as there are 3 or 4 Scala ones. As long as I have a Scala job, I don't care if the other companies are programming something else. If you can't get a Scala job - again: it's probably best to not even to take the time to learn it.
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#23Stopped reading after "strong typing is better than weak typing". Well, it is not. He/she rules out perfectly valid programming languages because of this personal opinion nowhere near a fact ( http://stackoverflow.com/questions/125367/dynamic-type-langu... ). In fact, it directly contradicts his/her second point. I understand the author wants to drift it towards Scala, but make an effort and choose the right argument…
Well, I also stopped reading there.
I was weary when I saw the headline but clicked it to see if I could learn something new.
The article seems written for newbie programmers (HTML/CSS in a programming language list? seriously? And who is, nowadays,seriously considering fortran for a new project?) and have them believe a series of opinions.
Like the cartoon at the beginning, it seems like the author is just another lemming calling for other lemmings to follow him.
[EDIT] Finished the article. It is a blatant advertisement for Scala. The support for Java sounds so false that, if Scala didn't use the JVM is would be discarded like the other languages.
To choose a language you need to make a decision based on the project first, not the language's features. The language should match the project. How big is the project? Where/how will it be deployed/run? Is performance a concern? How long should the development take? Does it have special needs? (concurrency, parallelism, 3D grphics, real-time, etc...).
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#24This is a late april fool right? So much nonsense in one article ...
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#25Stopped reading after "strong typing is better than weak typing". Well, it is not. He/she rules out perfectly valid programming languages because of this personal opinion nowhere near a fact ( http://stackoverflow.com/questions/125367/dynamic-type-langu... ). In fact, it directly contradicts his/her second point. I understand the author wants to drift it towards Scala, but make an effort and choose the right argument…
Well, I also stopped reading there. I was weary when I saw the headline but clicked it to see if I could learn something new. The article seems written for newbie programmers (HTML/CSS in a programming language list? seriously? And who is, nowadays,seriously considering fortran for a new project?) and have them believe a series of opinions. Like the cartoon at the beginning, it seems like the author is just another l…
"HTML/CSS in a programming language list? seriously?"
I just googled "programming languages you should learn" - 3rd result: http://www.sitepoint.com/whats-best-programming-language-lea... ("What’s the Best Programming Language to Learn in 2015?") 4th "Programming Language" is...: CSS! You know that's nonsense, but a newbie doesn't
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#26I worry about the author's qualifications if he rules out FORTRAN and Delphi for failing to be statically typed. Both languages (Delphi is Pascal with OO bolt-ons) are classic statically typed languages.
There are excellent reasons for rejecting FORTRAN, maybe Delphi too, but dynamic typing isn't one of them.
EDIT for afterthought (sorry):
I also don't see the basis for rejecting Go as "low-level like C" while singing the praises of Java - Go is not far, conceptually, from Java without generics, i.e. maybe Java 6, with a few useful new ideas, like the channel-based concurrency model and interface embedding instead of class inheritance thrown in.
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#27I worry about the author's qualifications if he rules out FORTRAN and Delphi for failing to be statically typed. Both languages (Delphi is Pascal with OO bolt-ons) are classic statically typed languages. There are excellent reasons for rejecting FORTRAN, maybe Delphi too, but dynamic typing isn't one of them. EDIT for afterthought (sorry): I also don't see the basis for rejecting Go as "low-level like C" while singin…
Ups - I have to fix that.
Yep, I do lack experience programming Fortran and Delphi ;)
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, I also stopped reading there. I was weary when I saw the headline but clicked it to see if I could learn something new. The article seems written for newbie programmers (HTML/CSS in a programming language list? seriously? And who is, nowadays,seriously considering fortran for a new project?) and have them believe a series of opinions. Like the cartoon at the beginning, it seems like the author is just another l…
"HTML/CSS in a programming language list? seriously?" I just googled "programming languages you should learn" - 3rd result: http://www.sitepoint.com/whats-best-programming-language-lea... ("What’s the Best Programming Language to Learn in 2015?") 4th "Programming Language" is...: CSS! You know that's nonsense, but a newbie doesn't
That's the problem. By including it you mean this article is (also) for newbies. And is an opinionated, biased article. The author is fostering more "lemming programmers".
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#29Stopped reading after "strong typing is better than weak typing". Well, it is not. He/she rules out perfectly valid programming languages because of this personal opinion nowhere near a fact ( http://stackoverflow.com/questions/125367/dynamic-type-langu... ). In fact, it directly contradicts his/her second point. I understand the author wants to drift it towards Scala, but make an effort and choose the right argument…
Stopped reading after "strong typing is better than weak typing". Well, it is not. Only in situations where other effects outweigh the fact that compile-time errors are much less bad than run-time errors.
No. That's simplifying the problem. Please read the link I posted about this subject, you'll be surprised on how deep this goes.
Re: 8 Considerations on Choosing a Programming Language
#30I worry about the author's qualifications if he rules out FORTRAN and Delphi for failing to be statically typed. Both languages (Delphi is Pascal with OO bolt-ons) are classic statically typed languages. There are excellent reasons for rejecting FORTRAN, maybe Delphi too, but dynamic typing isn't one of them. EDIT for afterthought (sorry): I also don't see the basis for rejecting Go as "low-level like C" while singin…
Ups - I have to fix that. Yep, I do lack experience programming Fortran and Delphi ;)
I program in FORTRAN for a living. FEAR me or pity me - as you wish! ;)