Re: Euphoria's identity/philosophy -- Where is the focus?
- Posted by DerekParnell (admin) Oct 31, 2014
- 3183 views
In my opinion, adding a bunch of built-ins and control structures only served to distract from Euphoria's distinctive USP, which is the sequence.
Were you distracted? Have you evidence that anyone at all has been distracted? And how has this distraction manifested itself? Can you fill in the logical progression from "adding a bunch of built-ins and control structures" to "distract from ... the sequence", because I've been thinking about what you are saying here and I'm finding it hard to see the connections.
... comes back to Euphoria's intended niche, and what that is, or should be.
I'm pretty sure that Euphoria doesn't have an intended niche because that would imply a coherent and guiding agency that is driving the development and future of the language. And that doesn't exist. It is just a language to be used for whatever purpose(s) you as a developer want to use it for.
If it's supposed to be a general-purpose language that's powerful AND easy to learn and use, you can't go on adding stuff and expect the niche to stay the same, because more choice comes at the cost of less easy to learn and use.
Just a few comments for now on this aspect...
- Yes, in the general case, there is a tipping point in which any given structure (eg. a programming language) can be expanded beyond its usefulness. In Euphoria's case, I'm of the opinion that that stage has not been reached, and is in fact still some way off. Of course you are entitled to differing opinions.
- Euphoria is a general purpose language and one that allows multiple coding styles. It is expected that a developer would only use Euphoria's capabilities in a manner that they felt comfortable with, unless one has to abide by some corporate rules. In other words, if you don't want to use the added aspects of the language, then don't. Euphoria and the OpenEuphoria team don't care how you use the language.
- The problem of source code using language features that one is not desirous of, is really only applicable when reading or maintaining someone else's code. And if you are doing that, then it might be that one also has to expand their education in the language. I'm not so sure that that is such a bad thing.
