#language wars

[lord-margolotta]

actually is there any way to change the default spellcheck on tumblr to english english? getting really sick of a fucking american dictionary telling me i've spelled "realise" wrong.

[girlwiththebluebackpack]

🇪🇸 vs. 🇰🇷 Yus yus yus yuuuss 🙌 (Spanish vs. Korean) New video on my channel "Girlwiththebluebackpack" or search "Language wars" 😊

[chronaldragon]

Language Wars

It's hard to go very far these days in the programming community without stumbling upon a discussion about the relative merits of different programming languages. In fact, even revealing that you're using one language or another can be enough to provoke comments, questions, and arguments about whether or not the use of that language was a good decision. For example, I've been moderating the Handmade Hero chatroom for more than a month now, and at least once (often several times) each stream (an hour a day, 5 days a week) we have to deal with people debating the merits of the language used by the streamer.

It may sound like I'm trying to separate myself from these types of people, but truth be told at one point I was someone who did these things. In fact, for the past few years I've switched from language to language, lambasting the ones I hadn't tried yet for reasons only known by hearsay and the ones I had tried for reasons found in practice (but not well understood). And pretty much anyone who learns at least one programming language will find themselves in the same place, at some point. So why do we do it?

Before I can propose an answer to that, it may be fruitful to explore in more detail what programming languages are actually used for. The specific uses are broad ranging, encompassing everything from scientific research to operating system design to game simulation to user-oriented tools and products. But in general, they are systems we use to allow us to coax some behavior out of a computer to do useful work (or work that's perceived as useful, anyway). They are abstractions of the underlying machine language that make it possible for a programmer to create systems of logic that perform a task without having to know the very fine-grained details of the implementation. This is true even of low-level languages like assembly languages, as they must be run through an assembler to be translated from the plain-text source code to machine byte code (though this transformation is much closer to 1:1 in most cases than other types of languages).

So that is what programming languages are for, in an abstract sense, and it is important to keep that in mind as we continue looking at their other properties. Languages differ in numerous ways, and their properties lend themselves to the accomplishment of the specific purposes for which each languages tends to be used. For example, C allows the programmer to define the way the data in the computer's memory is laid and transform it using more useful structures, as well as to break these rules and point at the data itself when necessary. Java tries to model the logic of the program as the interactions between almost-tangible objects which have properties derived from a well-defined blueprint. Haskell turns the program into almost a mathematical proof, with rigid restrictions on the nature and properties of functions. These are the most well-known examples of a few different paradigms, and might be the ones of which language warriors become most defensive. In each case, the tools provided by the language are tailored to these ideas and tend to make it difficult to think about the code in ways other than that which the creator intended.

On a more granular level than the structure of the language, each one has a well-defined syntax that the programmer uses to express themselves and manipulate the tools provided by the language. Some aspects of this syntax are shared, especially when the functionality of the language overlaps with that of a predecessor or contemporary. For example, a great many modern languages borrow syntactical elements from C, which itself uses elements from the earlier language B. Also, several languages have converged on a similar syntax for doing generic expressions. But despite these similarities, there are many differences from language to language, and even people who are experienced enough to be able to pick up a new language quickly must take some time to become familiar with the new syntax. This lends itself to some inertia when thinking about different languages, especially if the programmer has not had very much experience learning a new syntax and being able to switch back and forth. 

Additionally, an equally or perhaps even more significant factor in working with a programming language is the community which has been built up around it. Just about every language has a tag on StackOverflow, many have a dedicated forum and/or chatroom, and most if not all have had dozens if not hundreds of books published on their use. It's not hard to build up a sense of camaraderie with the members of these communities as you explore the issues that they, too, have faced, and become familiar with the ways they think about problems in the structure of the language. Additionally, and most importantly to the topic at hand, these communities will often (jokingly or not) poke fun at programmers who use other languages, compare their language to others (highlighting, of course, the ways in which it is superior), and build up a sense of superiority about the language their community revolves around. This is a pretty natural thing for a community to do, but is probably the single biggest contributor to the phenomenon of Language Wars.

So in essence, people are eager to defend their current way of thinking, and in the world of programming, that is inextricably tied to the programming language. The more good experiences you have with a language and the community around it, the more likely you are to be dismissive or combative at the mention of other languages. This is as much of a problem for programmers whose primary experience is in low-level languages as it is for those who have only worked with very high-level ones. Unfortunately, the more time spent debating the relative merits of different languages, the less time is spent coding. And that is the single biggest tragedy about language wars: not that feelings may be hurt, but that the actual fruits of coding have been put aside to squabble over the most basic aspects of making them.

In addition to the language wars, the Handmade Hero chatroom sees a lot of repetitive questions, so some of the community members and I built up a bank of responses on a python chatbot so that we can easily answer questions. I think the bot's canned response to the language wars (triggered by saying !wrench in the chat) sums up my point rather succinctly:

Programming is not about the languages. Code is the tool used to solve the problems programmers must address.

It doesn't matter if you use Python, or Java, or C, or some weird language that hasn't been invented yet. As long as you are writing code that benefits someone without causing them undue grief, you are making a useful contribution to the world of software development. 

(That being said, there are cases to be made for the use of specific languages for specific purposes, just like there are different tools for different jobs, and I may be making some of these cases in later posts. In every instance, however, the important thing is to be informed enough on the issue to make an intelligent argument and to remember what I said above!)

[dknc3]

joelyjo replied to your post:fullofstoryshapes replied to your...

Now what REALLY makes me flush is that you call trousers ‘pants’. Now that is just rude.

Why? Germans call pants (trousers to you) hose! Hose are the sheer, skin tight garments worn on ladies' legs here (also called PANTYhose), but I'm not mad at the Germans! We just speak different languages!

And so do you and I, LOL!! You speak British and I speak American! We're just fortunate that the two languages are still similar enough that we USUALLY don't have to ask for translations! :D :D :D

[latin-student-problems]

[plastic-eyes-blog]

Language Wars

This PBS “Language Wars” report paints a somewhat balanced picture of the debate on bilingual education in this country… and it drives me absolutely insane.  I was planning on writing another ranty post about this, but I’ll spare everyone because what I…

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[comradebisexual]

I don't get where people think German is an angry language.

I see the examples, like shmetterling, and I'm like

Who's a cute little shmetterling, who? Right, you are!

I'm sure German has more modes than silly but I'm just saying I can't do them.

[lettersofcontempt]

Dear Citizens For the Preservation of the English Language,

We would like to thank you for your letter of contempt. We found it most informative. Please note, however, that in this age of the lolcat bible, English can only grow with humorous, consistent, and readily apparent affronts to its grammar and usage.

As our intent is to enrich the English language by an easily parseable sentence structure that suggests a heightened form of the verb "complain", while also branding each post, we will happily continue to abuse this perfectly good, innocent noun.

As before we remain your humble servants,

The staff of Letters of Contempt