Language Evangelism Is Annoying

9 points 8 comments 16 hours ago

cwnyth

Well...as the Master says:

  The Tao gave birth to machine language. Machine language gave birth to the assembler.
  
  The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages.
  
  Each language has its purpose, however humble. Each language expresses the Yin and Yang of software. Each language has its place within the Tao.
  
  But do not program in COBOL if you can avoid it.

amano-kenji

Still, I wouldn't tell COBOL programmers to maybe ditch COBOL and write another language. They chose it over other languages for their own reasons.

It's okay to mention rust or any other language when it's a particularly good fit for a business or a project. But, shoving languages in people's faces repetitively is not okay.

In my experiences, directly telling people to do things differently never works. You have to wait for other people to ask you for advices, or you end up bothering other people.

speedgoose

> Evangelism is as annoying as an ugly guy stalking a beautiful princess.

Hi ChatGPT.

andyjohnson0

What are you asking HN? Or is this just a rant?

amano-kenji

> What are you asking HN?

Leave people alone. Don't nag people to use other languages.

dcminter

Did you tell the guy that annoyed you that? Why tell us?

You'll probably enjoy this ancient one though; it makes good points: https://www.perl.com/pub/2000/12/advocacy.html/

AnimalMuppet

> I told him to stop, but he couldn't stop mentioning it. I got annoyed and snapped.

So, yes, he did.

dcminter

I meant the full angry diatribe, not just "stop"

Seems to me the evangelist is just being rude here, there are times and places where evangelism is fine, no?