Preferred implementation language (Re: Meeting agenda robot)

[Ean Schuessler]

----- "Theodore Tso" wrote: 

> So the critical matter is not the richness of the toolset, or the 
> number of programmers, or the average performance of the language --- 
> if you can find a talented Java programmer, who understands 
> performance issues and who isn't afraid to dive into the dozens of 
> layers of Eclipse or Java class libraries to understand why some 
> application class has become O(n**4) --- or heck, understands what the 
> big-O notation means in the first place (you can write fast, 
> performant code in any language, just as you can write Fortran in any 
> language). No, the key is which language you are most likely to find 
> a large pool of good, talented programmers who are willing to 
> volunteer for your project; not just now, but also 10-15 years from 
> now. 
> I'd suggest that the only programming languages likely to meet that 
> test are C, Perl, and Python, but what's important is the criteria and 
> understanding why that's important. 

I do agree with this point. The tool doesn't provide the talent. I'll take a good team writing in a bad language over the reverse any day of the week. 

I do take issue with the "richness of the toolset" statement. NIH is a crippling disease and I think leveraging a mature code base gets you more bang for the buck than reinventing the wheel almost every time. 

-- 
Ean Schuessler, CTO Brainfood.com 
ean at brainfood.com - http://www.brainfood.com - 214-720-0700 x 315 
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