Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Two Reasons Your Favorite Programming Language Becomes Cumbersome

Regarding "Is Your Programming Language A Burden?", a couple of days ago, a reader asked me:
“How can I find a language more cumbersome the more I use it?”

Nice question and the answer is quite simple:

  • The first reason can be that the language was born cumbersome, but we didn’t have the fine taste to recognize its useless complexity. 
Let’s take an example: think about String class in Java or C# you know it’s final/sealed, you cannot extend it to open its behavior. Moreover you cannot modify it because it’s integrated with the language (grrrrr). I can bet when programmers realize those obstacles they become aware that language holds their creativity.

  • The second reason is about a language born simple, but release after release, version after version new constructs are stuffed in and finally it becomes bloated.
Look at  Java history and pick your top worst updates.

In conclusion, the more you play with a language the more you discover if it solves your programming needs or if it’s only a parking brake.



P.S.
There is a third reason of course: a language starts cumbersome and in the meantime grows with useless syntax additions, that's the worst case dear readers ;-)


photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/reiver/