LogFAQs > #877029456

CelestialVoices posted...

do you have a favorite or preferred language(s)? why?

Not really, though I enjoy Prolog because I find logic programming very elegant and satisfying. Though I wouldn't use it for anything other than toy projects. Wyvern, because I'm biased and that's the language I work on.

least favorite?

C++ is complex and header files are a horrendous and outdated way of implementing modules. Python is terribly designed all around, from the scoping rules, default args, lack of real information hiding, and it never gets flak for being terribly designed. Perl looks like dog shit, although Perl 6 is a pretty good language. Golang is horrendous (version controlling, no generics, repetitive and tedious patterns needed because golang doesn't have the features it should).

what separates a good one from a bad one?

Clean syntax. First-class abstractions. Allows you to make more complex static guarantees about your program as you want them (but doesn't require you to use them all the time). Has a good standard library and eco system (I don't have to write my own data structures every time unless they're special purpose).

what was your first language

Pascal, but Java was the first language I got truly proficient in (to the point where I know 80% of it and can tell you things about its specification etc).

why did you start doing it in the first place

To make gamez.
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I live in a big house and it's handy to have a pair of running shoes so that it doesn't take me forever to get from one area of the house to another.