On 2019-02-25 03:35, Wouter Verhelst wrote:
> On 24/02/2019 15:48, Mayayana wrote:
>> 2) What do you need in the result?
>>
>>    Anything that compiles to native code is efficient. Java
>> and .Net are bloated messes on desktop but just the
>> ticket server-side. Script is quick and very useful,
>> but it's interpreted, with limited data types, and therefore
>> not suited for heavy lifting. They all have their pros and
>> cons. Well, except maybe Perl. That's just too ugly to be
>> allowed to survive. :)
>
> Perl allows line-noise code, but then so does C.
>
> Honestly, it's perfectly possible to write readable Perl code that is
> easily maintained.

I believe you: my son was learning Perl before he died, I could  make
maybe 10-20% sense of what he wrote, even though I didn't "know" Perl.
But whatever language you use, someone else will have to maintain your
code after you're gone, so write the comments for them, not for yourself.

> Like with anything, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

:-)

I'd add, the experienced eye sees the most beauty.

A computer language isn't a language. Formatting code to make it easier
for humans to use doesn't make it a language. Computer code at root
describes switching sequences. That's all. Recall that the very first
machines were coded by rerouting cables between switches.

Human languages don't code, they present what (for want of a better
phrase) I call "intersecting ambiguities". That's why you can understand
sentences that include words you've never encountered before (it's how
we learned our native language in the first place). It's why we can
shift word-usage, and be fairly confident that our hearers and readers
will get at least enough of what we intend that they can ask good
questions about what we mean.

The ambiguities etc of human language are paradoxically also the reason
that statistical and pattern analysis of samples has produced successful
translation AIs, and AIs that write boilerplate new reports (eg, for
sports and business). The most recent language-writing AI can imitate
your personal style wll enough that it's impossible for the casual
reader to detect a forgery. That will not end well.

Have a good day, if you can,

--
Wolf K
kirkwood40.blogspot.com
A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going
somewhere. (Groucho Marx)

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