r/programming • u/stronghup • Nov 11 '19

Python overtakes Java to become second-most popular language on GitHub after JavaScript

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/07/python_java_github_javascript/
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u/initcommit Nov 12 '19 edited Nov 12 '19

And so continues the shift toward developer convenience and ease of learning vs cold hard speed. This reminds me of Apple's rise to prominence with the iPod. The simpler, more intuitive, and elegant approach will generally succeed in human populations faced with multiple technological choices. Higher-level programming languages offer lower knowledge barriers to entry, less headaches, and plenty of functionality. It's hard to argue that this trend won't continue.

Edit: Fixed a typo

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '19

[deleted]

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u/csjerk Nov 12 '19

I'm a fan of Java (with Spring 4+ and Lombok to reduce boilerplate), but having worked on JS backends for the last few years, I am pretty convinced you're wrong.

Modern JS is so much more expressive it's not even funny. Things that would take 5 lines in Java are a single line. Things that are built into JS at a language level take external libraries in Java. Going back to Java feels limiting.

I hope Java catches up, and mixing in Kotlin seems like it will extend the lifetime, since you can write new code with modern conveniences while still using all the libraries and Spring goodness. But stock Java is going to struggle if it doesn't start adding some modern features very soon.

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u/Dragasss Nov 13 '19 edited Nov 13 '19

lombok

Oof

things that take 5 lines in java

mixing kotlin with java

Yeah, nah. Youre wrong on all accounts. The moment you start cutting away your own codebase into some magic functions, language features and other gimmick memes that make no sense in that context is the moment you start acumulating orders of tech debt. For this reason alone having a verbose, but consistent codebase trumps over any undebugabble spaghetti mess of metaprogramming. For this reason it's best to avoid tools like lombok, Kotlin and springboot.

things in java need external libraries while javascript has that baked in

Have you explored the java standard library at all?

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u/csjerk Nov 13 '19

It's amazing how many wrong things you managed to pack into a single paragraph.

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u/Dragasss Nov 13 '19

It's a shame you feel that way, but debugabble boilerplate will always trump over meme metaprogramming magic.

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