I think I am officially get old and grumpy. Yikes! A decade ago people told me that programmers only last a decade. Doh!
In the last month, I’ve started, for the first time, being super annoyed with people who have an undying affinity for a specific PL or programming language community.
I’ll pick on two languages, both of which I’ve used, enjoyed, and recommended:
- Ruby
- Python
Asshole Ruby
The recent SmutOnRails is just a highlight of a sad part of the Rails/Ruby community. I’ve built rails apps and recommended it for appropriate uses, but it’s despite the DHH air about it. I’ve really enjoyed Ruby and until 2009 wasn’t annoyed by the community. Okay, to balance the scale…
Priggish Python
I had lunch recently with a friend. He is starting a new project in Python… in spite of it’s community. Why? Because its the right tool for that specific project. We had a great lunch riffing on anti-Python memes and cataloging their faults. We also discussed the reasons why it the right tool for the job.
This didn’t used to happen to me. I’ve never been so easily annoyed with communities before, but age has started to expose my nerves and make me less forgiving of the cavalier and "better than you" attitudes.
Thoughtful individuals like _why who happen to use Ruby are way more interesting than the cult of Ruby or Pythonistas.
I’ve been saying for years that when I find myself working within the Foo community, that I am not a "Foo programmer". I’m just a programmer. Often, this freaks people out, or they think I’m being a sad guy. No. Let’s have fun and create amazing things for everybody; leave the Fratboy assimilation attitude at the door.
Quick Litmus test… if you constantly mention your favorite PL as a noun or a verb in daily conversation, then you’ve become a tool, by forgetting that your language is just a tool.
The end product of what we do… is about people. Filling a slide deck with porn is kind of the opposite of being about people.