Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

techrepublic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–357 of 357 posts

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#351

Post by acdha »

LeonenTheDK wrote: post #348
acdha wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s how it works in Python, too. You add text descriptions (docstrings), automatic documentation generated from function/class definitions (comments can add prose), and you can run doctests to test things like examples. See e.g. https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/index.html and https://docs.python.org/3/library/doctest.html

Very nice, I'm glad to see it elsewhere. Maybe Elixir even took inspiration (or it's just a plain good idea). I'm really surprised that I had never heard of or encountered it, maybe it's just an accepted part of the ecosystem so no one talks about it and/or I assumed everything was written manually. Also haven't used Python professionally which doesn't help.

Yeah, I don't care who came up with it first as much as it spreading widely. We waste far too much time on bad documentation as a field.

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#352

Post by oblio »

qorrect wrote: post #143
vslira wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've seen, jupyter notebooks reach convoluted excel formulas-level of accessibility and efficacy for lay people. Most of us really underestimate what "non" programmers can achieve with if/else, loops, equality tests, a repl and autocompletion.

Yeah I'm guessing code quality is _tanking_ around the world. Lots more code , a lot less quality.

And a lot more stuff being done. Cut it out with the elitism.

It's like being an anaerobic bacteria complaining about the abundance of oxygen in during the Cambrian explosion.

"Back in my day no stinking, puny, oxygen breathing things were around, only sturdy creatures such as myself" :-)

Yeah, it was messy, but that's how we were able to have humans, hundreds of millions of years later.

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#353

Post by mmcnl »

qorrect wrote: post #143
vslira wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've seen, jupyter notebooks reach convoluted excel formulas-level of accessibility and efficacy for lay people. Most of us really underestimate what "non" programmers can achieve with if/else, loops, equality tests, a repl and autocompletion.

Yeah I'm guessing code quality is _tanking_ around the world. Lots more code , a lot less quality.

What is "code quality" anyway?

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#354

Post by xxpor »

Gibbon1 wrote: post #324
xxpor wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too bad the lack of generics means it has awful ergonomics in reality. I also think rust's ? makes the "return err" pattern much nicer to deal with.

I like generics because it actually solves a lot of things that OOP and inheritance were supposed to without turning your dependencies into a ball of mud. After 30 years of mediocre programming things I hate are unplanned/hidden side effects, train wrecks due to mutable state, and out of control dependencies. Error handling at this point seems like Weltschmerz.

Agreed on the second point, but when I think of "ergonomics", I'm mostly thinking about how much I have to type to get stuff done. For example, Java has generics and unchecked exceptions, but still sucks ergonomically without an IDE just due to syntax and imports.

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#355

Post by eecc »

vips7L wrote: post #322
eecc wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, so far the “better” still remains to be seen... waiting for type-classes to represent monoids, functors, applicatives, monads and foldable. So far I’ve just seen a complex and wild stream API that mimics it in practice, without all the mental model behind it. Oh, and what’s this nonsense with Java Option?! Really?

We're yet to see if monoids, functors, and monads are worth it :) For better I'd say you should look at things like virtual threads vs async/await or kotlins when vs switch expressions.

No they are. Seriously, the mental effort I had to endure to hold all these wild APIs in my head! In hindsight it’s infuriating; the gatekeeping, the patronizing condescendence when I was struggling with what are mathematical trivialities.

Screw that... I should have been told sooner

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#356

Post by iratewizard »

EEMac wrote: post #301
iratewizard wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Chaturbate.com: PORN_SITE Gave me a laugh. Engineers would initially qualify a porn search engine to search for this sort of experiment

Well, yes. Why wouldn't you? They hire engineers, and they have programming projects. Meets all requirements.

I don't usually search pornhub for programming help

Re: Python overtakes Java to become the second-most popular programming language

#357

Post by chpmrc »

flavor8 wrote: post #115
chpmrc wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true for any language, strongly typed or otherwise, with or without memory management. The evidence gathered in the last decades is pretty clear: there is little to no advantage using a strongly typed language over something like Python or Ruby (on mobile so can't look up references but there's really plenty). And that's just looking at bug density, without even considering how quickly you can build something…

> The evidence gathered in the last decades Source?

I posted a (non exhaustive) list here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25001953
Post reply on HN