Petite Cloud, CBSD, Intellij

[Steve O'Hara-Smith]

On Tue, 14 Jul 2020 05:16:56 -0400
Aryeh Friedman <aryeh.friedman at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 2:08 AM Steve O'Hara-Smith <steve at sohara.org>
> wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, 13 Jul 2020 20:46:02 -0400
> > Aryeh Friedman <aryeh.friedman at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > And Java is one the most natural languages I have used
> >
> >         Yes it can be, but the pile of excremental programming
> > philosophy that started with EJB, swallowed several books on design
> > patterns (to be worn on the sleeve in sentence length variable names)
> > has festered for a few decades since is anything but natural and pretty
> > much requires an IDE to write. Strangely it is surprisingly easy to
> > write working code in but remarkably hard to debug when it doesn't work
> > for subtle reasons.
> >
> 
> Almost anything can be misused or used in the wrong situations.  Design
> patterns are in this camp, when used to solve real architectural issues
> (not just slavishly applying them without solving an actual issue) they
> are extremely useful if used sparingly.

	Of course, what is surprising is how well they work in many ways
when applied to excess, they make it possible to write working code that is
all but impossible to understand.

> Also keep in mind that Java is not the only language that has abusable
> features/debug nightmares,

	Oh indeed, Perl has a subculture large enough to tarnish the entire
language as write only - it isn't but some Perl styles are.

	Also there is nothing really Java specific about that school of
programming except that Java is their chosen language. A similar approach
is possible in almost any OO language.

	Like Perl the culture is often mistaken for the language.

> do I need to mention pointers when they are not

	Pointers were very useful when memory was tight as well as for low
level stuff but yes dangerous, hard to debug and easy to write
incomprehensible code.

	It's not so much abusable language features as the existence of a
large community bent on abusing them.

> Bottom line not everything is a nail so using a hammer on everything is
> wrong but it is equally wrong to use a screwdriver handle as a hammer when
> you find an actual real nail

	Well said.

-- 
Steve O'Hara-Smith                          |   Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN                                     | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins.                |    licences available see
You lose and Bill collects.                 |    http://www.sohara.org/