[Info-vax] Programming languages, was: Re: And another one bites the dust....

[Dan Cross]

In article <sv0pgj$66b$4 at dont-email.me>,
Simon Clubley  <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> wrote:
>On 2022-02-21, Scott Dorsey <kludge at panix.com> wrote:
>> Academics shouldn't be teaching programming languages, they should be
>> teaching programming concepts.  If you know C or Pascal, learning 
>> how to write the procedure division code in COBOL should be a matter
>> of a couple hour's study.  Once you know the concepts, learning the
>> syntax is easy.  (Frustrating, perhaps, because the COBOL syntax is
>> so horrible, but easy.)
>
>Syntax is only one small part of it. Understanding the reason for the
>language is very important as well.
>
>For example, you can write C code with Ada syntax by declaring everything
>as Integer or you can learn the Ada type system and start using the Ada
>way of thinking to model your problem using Ada's type system.

How's the old quip go; you can write FORTRAN in any language?

It takes time and experience to learn to use a language
idiomatically, which is why it's important to foster a culture
of mentorship and growth, even in industry.

I've been programming most frequently in Rust for the last three
or so years, and I've observed a pattern amongst programmers who
are new to Rust: first, one starts writing C and C++ in Rust
syntax; we called this "crust" on my last project; this stage is
often associated with "fighting the borrow checker."  Then, one
reaches the point where all of a sudden traits and newtypes are
really, really cool.  After that, then you start writing decent
idiomatic code.

	- Dan C.