On Nov 22, 2012 9:56 AM, "dexen deVries" <dexen.devries@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Thursday 22 of November 2012 09:38:06 Dan Cross wrote:
> > In the big scheme of things, absolutely none of this matters.  Whether
one
> > programs in Java, C, Go, COBOL or 370 assembler doesn't really make any
> > difference; one could die tomorrow, and would anyone care what language
> > s/he programmed in?  really?  This world has bigger problems than that.
> >
> > Programming languages are tools; nothing more.  (...)
>
> that assumes any programming language is (at best) a constant or linear
factor
> in problem solving time and complexity. some circles hold opinion that
more
> powerfull programming languages provide polynominal or exponential factor.

I'm not sure what that has to do with programming languages being tools: I
can drive a nail by banging on it with a screwdriver or my fist, but it's
much more convenient to use a hammer.  Which tool I choose really depends
on the problem I'm trying to solve.

In other words, what it assumes is that different languages are better
suited to different tasks.

> aside of that, in various publications number of bugs is found to
correlate
> with line counts or similar metrics, making a more concise language a net
win.

Ha!  Ever programmed in APL?

        - Dan C.