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The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

interconnected.org

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Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#31

Post by big_toast »

genmon wrote: post #29

(blog author here) If you're interested in the multiplayer cursors + cursor chat, my philosophy is that every web page deserves to be a place, and pages should feel busy if lots of people are there plus you can grab the code. here's the write-up: https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party

This is such a cool effect but I'm afraid its novelty is conflicting with its affordances.

Have you seen cases where people are using it in a more familiar manner? Like, they've moved on from the newness but there's still a bunch of people? Feels like being in a subway station where everyone is bumping into each other right now instead of just sharing the space as needed.

Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#32

Post by johnisgood »

I am curious about people's experiences who are really good and use the following languages regularly: C, OCaml / Haskell (although Haskell feels way different to me), Common Lisp (or any Lisp), Erlang / Elixir, and Forth / Factor. To me, these languages seem to be significantly different.

Edit (before I will not be able to do so): thank you for everyone's replies (in advance, too)!

Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#33

Post by stronglikedan »

hiccuphippo wrote: post #30

> It’s a relief to close the braces. I always type the closing bracket right after opening one then go back one character to start typing inside. Same with parentheses and quotes. It's a hassle when the IDE does it for me because then I have to delete one of them.

you will submit to the will of the IDE...

Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#36

Post by genmon »

big_toast wrote: post #31
genmon wrote: post #29

(blog author here) If you're interested in the multiplayer cursors + cursor chat, my philosophy is that every web page deserves to be a place, and pages should feel busy if lots of people are there plus you can grab the code. here's the write-up: https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party

This is such a cool effect but I'm afraid its novelty is conflicting with its affordances. Have you seen cases where people are using it in a more familiar manner? Like, they've moved on from the newness but there's still a bunch of people? Feels like being in a subway station where everyone is bumping into each other right now instead of just sharing the space as needed.

yeah this is definitely over the edge -- signal is lost in the noise

my main enjoyment has been to hang out on my own blog (which it generally pretty quiet) and say hi to people as they drop by. I've had a few pleasant interactions that way, and a couple people said hi in Unoffice Hours (link in the left column) or on the socials after

but generally I feel like "ambient togetherness" is just the beginning of something, and it needs to be paired with something more persistent to be useful (like a discord only open to subscribers, that kind of thing), and I haven't gotten around to building that side of it yet.

Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#38

Post by airza »

genmon wrote: post #29

(blog author here) If you're interested in the multiplayer cursors + cursor chat, my philosophy is that every web page deserves to be a place, and pages should feel busy if lots of people are there plus you can grab the code. here's the write-up: https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party

I think that’s a very cool philosophy but unfortunately it makes your website unusable for me on mobile. It feels like ants are crawling all over my screen.

Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#39

Post by wry_discontent »

johnisgood wrote: post #32

I am curious about people's experiences who are really good and use the following languages regularly: C, OCaml / Haskell (although Haskell feels way different to me), Common Lisp (or any Lisp), Erlang / Elixir, and Forth / Factor. To me, these languages seem to be significantly different. Edit (before I will not be able to do so): thank you for everyone's replies (in advance, too)!

I use Clojure a lot at home and Typescript at work. The experience is dramatically different. Clojure makes me feel free. It feels easy to experiment and the whole world feels open to me.

Typescript on the other hand feels like being confined to a small room. There's not much flexibility. Not much is open to me. It's very regimented and I can sense better solutions, but they're off limits to me either because of the required type gymnastics or the language primitives.

Re: The subjective experience of coding in different programming languages (2023)

#40

Post by crazygringo »

genmon wrote: post #29

(blog author here) If you're interested in the multiplayer cursors + cursor chat, my philosophy is that every web page deserves to be a place, and pages should feel busy if lots of people are there plus you can grab the code. here's the write-up: https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party

It's very cool, but the motion is also incredibly distracting while reading. It literally makes it physically difficult to read.

Might I suggest quickly fading the cursors out entirely as soon as the user starts to scroll, maybe? Then you could have the effect at the start, but be less distracting while reading.

Or just a floating counter in the corner to say how many people are currently viewing it, maybe with the two most popular flags and your own flag and a fourth "other". Because it's one thing to know it's busy (cool, it's popular, I'm participating in something!), but it's another thing to feel busy, distracted, claustrophobic.

I assume you want to prioritize people reading your actual content over the feeling of busyness.

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