What makes a Programming Language, a good programming language ?
Posted by Rics-Dev@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 18 comments
In your opinion, what differentiates Programming languages ? and what makes a programming language, a good programming language, or a bad one ?
MR_LAW11@reddit
Honestly I think a “good” programming language is mostly one that makes the right tradeoffs for its purpose, not one that tries to win every category.
For me the big differentiators are: readability, tooling/ecosystem, performance, developer experience, how easy it is to debug, and whether it gets out of your way or constantly fights you.
Python feels great for learning/AI because it’s readable and fast to build with. C/C++ give you more control and performance but can be painful. Java/C# trade some flexibility for structure. JavaScript… somehow runs everywhere and survives purely out of spite 😭
A bad language to me isn’t necessarily slow or old, it’s one where simple things feel unnecessarily hard, errors are cryptic, tooling sucks, or the language fights the problem you’re trying to solve. The “best” language is usually context-dependent.
JawztheKid@reddit
Maybe I'm controversial as a computer engineer and not a computer scientist, but for me it's how well can I directly interface with the hardware without too many abstractions or how many abstractions are opt-in and not opt-out are there in the language. I would like higher level features to be optional up to a certain extent. If I can see a language and translate it to assembly then to machine code then to signals effectively, I think it's a good language.
Immediate_Form7831@reddit
Good design, well-defined semantics, a comprehensive standard library, a living ecosystem of third-party libraries and tools.
And perhaps most of all: readability; the ability to be able to look at the code and have a reasonable chance to know what the code is going to do when executed.
WeepingAgnello@reddit
They say, "Worse is better". I don't know what to make of that, but it depends what language gets traction. A language could get hyped for multiple reasons, wich have nothing tondo with the language itself.
Recently, there was a nice JetBrains interview with the creator of Zig, and he says that under his non-profit org license, the zig foundation is not allowed to lobby.
bywaldemar@reddit
I think each one has its own reason for existing. And then personal preferences also play a big role.
smartuno@reddit
There is no good programming language, every single one is bad in its own way and has drawbacks. How good the experience is would be determined by 1) how well you can read the code, 2) how well you can write the code, and 3) how much support the language has in the dev community
pizzystrizzy@reddit
All good programming languages are alike; every bad programming language is bad in its own way. The Stroustrup-Tolstoy Convergence, perhaps.
Misaka_Undefined@reddit
Whether it makes money or not
luna_code_vibes@reddit
good syntax strong ecosystem solid tooling and not breaking every update
ScholarNo5983@reddit
In my opinion brainfuck is one of the greatest programming languages every designed, only for its clarity and expressiveness, but that is only my opinion.
No doubt many would choose to disagree, and that is their right.
Aggressive_Many9449@reddit
It starts with J and ends on ava. If you like Java.
Flame77ofc@reddit
A language becomes good when it fulfills its philosophy
Loud-Author-7329@reddit
Every language is a trade-off. C gives you power, Python gives you speed of development, Rust gives you safety, and JavaScript gives you... employment !
MojitoBurrito-AE@reddit
PaperCube_@reddit
If the programming language fulfills a purpose then its a good one
hugazow@reddit
It is all subjective
mlugo02@reddit
A good one lets me do what I want, bad one tells me it knows how to handle memory better than I
EntrepreneurHuge5008@reddit
Whether you like it or not.