Originally posted by Squarepusher
The point I'm trying to make is that the end-user doesn't care what you coded your software in. You might as well be arguing over what style of wrench is best to remove bolts. If all you care about is getting the damned thing out, there is no functional difference between open-end, boxed-end, robo-grip, vise-grip, or a cutting torch. Elegance be damned. And so it goes with programming languages.
Let's say for a second that you're every bit as awesome and experienced in programming as you claim. Or one better, that you're being modest and you're selling your talent short. In fact, you're a god among men in programming circles and yours is a household name among the great unwashed masses...
You're not selling your product to other programmers.
The people who buy your software don't care who you are or how awesomely you can code in FORTRAN. They want something that does the job they need done. They want it to work, and work correctly, else they start demanding refunds. The programmer's job, as I understand it, is to use the tools he chooses in the most optimal manner he can manage. If that's Java, then he needs to do the work required to make it behave in a reliable manner. If it's C or C++, then ... well I suppose the same thing applies. Griping about the perceived shortfalls of languages you don't use because they don't meet your needs is precisely equivalent to complaining about the uselessness and failure of screwdrivers because you have to work too hard with them to remove a nail.
On a slightly more snarky note, I'm guessing you don't often program in binary. If you're wanting optimization and pure performance, you can't beat it. It gives you the ULTIMATE in power and flexibility at the cost of just a wee bit of time. No need to screw around with compilers that might not always choose the most optimal code path. So why don't you do all your stuff with just 1's and 0's from now on?
For two reasons: 1) Because that's completely fucking insane and 2) it's on the far side of an arbitrary line you've drawn in your head for a difficulty-to-performance tradeoff. There is no law in the Universe that guarantees your tool selection is the One True Way. If it were, nobody would be using anything but what you use.
So come on everybody, let's all get over ourselves and understand that people invented all these languages for a reason - what was already available didn't meet their needs.
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