In tech startup jargon you hear this convention a lot:
Product/Market Fit
Founder/Startup Fit
Product/Founder Fit
Etc.
It's basically the idea that a product isn't inherently going to succeed but if it's found the right market fit, things will go well. Or that no founder is inherently great, but with the right project, they can really succeed.
So what is your coder/language fit? The language that works for you because of how you are as a person—not necessarily because of its inherent greatness. No language is without flaw, nor is any language totally terrible. It's about the fit with the project, or in the case of this question—the person.
Latest comments (42)
After 20 years of developing in PHP I stumbled across Python 2.7.x when I realised you could add udf's to Redshift SQL statements. Then I realised that Python (now working in 3.7.x+) could do everything I wanted in PHP much more quickly because of the extensive library support. Unit tests, Pandas, Numpy, it's all covered. Fits me like a glove. Then I found decorators and generators and ... haven't looked back since.
Typescript and Kotlin.
I used to be more a fan of Javascript and Python, but I'm getting to like strong typed languages more.
I also have a weird fascination with languages that compile to binaries (like Rust, which I'm learning now. Though it's more like a cosmic battle with the borrow checker)
I've found my happy place with Kotlin, JetBrains has really created a wonderful language that can be deployed to all platforms I love to work on, namely Android and the Linux command line, often with a codebase that's mostly identical.
Ruby and Ada
Yes, they couldn't be more different: duck typing the former, very strong typing the latter.
Duck typing is not as robust as strong typing, but its flexibility makes it very easy to write some fast-and-dirty code. Typical use case: if I have some text file that I need to process to extract information or if I need to write some networking code for an extemporaneous need.
However, for larger and longer-lived software I prefer the order that Ada can enforce to your code.
Sure, you could do the same with C or Ruby by choosing some coding convention, but having the compiler enforcing it and checking it before you can run the code it is much better. How many times I had to run some code again and again in order to find a bug that would have been spotted at compile time by Ada.
TypeScript: you get the syntax and expressiveness of JavaScript, coupled with the type safety of most OOP languages.
That, and also, the fact that TypeScript mostly looks at "shapes" of objects, rather than specific classes and interfaces, allowing us to write expressive code. Who cares where an object came from? As long as the object has the right shape, then we're good to go, something that C# lacks (although somewhat available with LINQ). C++ somewhat implements such an idea, but TypeScript is much easier to get started.
This is actually something I've thought about a lot recently when I talk to people about different languages, and for me it's Ruby. And as you said not because Ruby isn't without its flaws, or that Ruby is the right fit for every project. But I have found that Ruby fits really well into my personal mental model of programming. Most things in Ruby work how I expect them to work.
It's syntax is simple enough that it can almost look like pseudo code in simple cases and is easy to visualize, for me personally.
Another thing that makes Ruby fit well into my mental model is it's complete lack of typing, and emphasis on 'duck' typing, or having objects of different types that respond to the same methods, and acting on all of them using this shared interface. This fits well with how I imagine objects working in my head.
Ruby is the language I will probably pick if I just want to knock something out quickly and the language doesn't matter. But for new learning focused projects there are a few other languages like Elixir and Rust that I want to get more into!
For me it’s not really about the language. Over the years I’ve been variously obsessed with Basic, Z80 assembly, Fortran, C, Perl, and now I tend to write everything in Python and use a lot of Raspberry Pis. Within broad limits you can write any application in any language (*), and you are going to produce the best result in the language you know best and are most comfortable with.
(*) I had a roommate who was trying to write a word processing program in Basic, so there are obviously anomalies by the score.
Honestly modern object oriented PHP. Along long time ago, in a land far away I tried to learn C and had no idea about programming or anything. Nothing clicked and I got very frustrated with it and I decided programming was not for me.
Eventually I found PHP and figured out how to build things and to make web applications. Eventually I learned lower level concepts that C teaches you but learning PHP well first helped usher in a new Era in my life.
After 20 years I have grown to like and sometimes love php, despite really not wanting to!
C++ and Python are my all-time favorites.
C++ is one of my favorites because of the complete control it gives me. I adore memory management, so allocation, pointers, and the lack of a garbage collector make me very happy. I'd rather have all the control with the risk of undefined behavior, rather than no undefined behavior with limited control. Anyway, I love debugging undefined behavior. Besides that, C++ offers all the tools to work in every imaginable coding paradigm, or any combination thereof - procedural, object-oriented, generic, functional, you name it. I'm not limited to one possible solution: I can build practically anything well.
I love Python's unique syntax and underlying logic. Immutability is absolutely awesome! I appreciate the Zen of Python, and I'm drawn to the audacious beauty of the language itself. Python as a community and a language places great value on doing things well, which is one of my highest personal values.
I know many other languages, and that list continues to grow, but C++ and Python are my perennial favorites. Each release only strengthens that passion.
Haskell, because I love to write short, concise and elegant code and also am a mere mortal so having the compiler have your back is nice.