DHH tweets about Dart

DHH @dhh

@thomcarver All I care about is the beauty of the code the programmer sees and writes. Implementations can go to town as they please.

DHH @dhh

Clinging on to explicit, static typing for a new programming language reminds me of Southern reenactment battles.

Scott Bessler @scottbessler

@dhh fair enough, but type-inference (like C#), and interface-inference (like Go) ease much of the warts. its not static's fault, its dart.

Scott Bessler @scottbessler

@dhh fair enough, but type-inference (like C#), and interface-inference (like Go) ease much of the warts. its not static's fault, its dart.

Glenn Vanderburg @glv

@dhh Someone (Rob Pike?) recently described that as "Java's stuttering problem".

DHH @dhh

Comparing CoffeeScript and Dart from a syntactical perspective, it feels like the former is vintage 2011 and the latter is vintage 1995.

DHH @dhh

@scottbessler Even having to repeat "var" is nasty. Better, but still nasty.

Scott Bessler @scottbessler

@dhh c#-style type inference would fix both of those and remain static typed. var prefix = "Hello"; var greeter = new Greeter();

Scott Bessler @scottbessler

@dhh c#-style type inference would fix both of those and remain static typed. var prefix = "Hello"; var greeter = new Greeter();

DHH @dhh

String prefix = 'Hello,'; Greeter greeter = new Greeter(); -- Static typing is one of the worst visual warts of programming.

DHH @dhh

@glv String prefix = 'Hello,'; -- I mean, just shoot me now.

DHH @dhh

Even the tag line makes me gag: "STRUCTURED WEB PROGRAMMING". More ivory tower. The filthy proles and their UNSTRUCTURED code!!

Glenn Vanderburg @glv

@dhh Agreed. I think optional typing has minor value for making public APIs clearer, but not for the reason you quoted.

DHH @dhh

@glv That's even worse, imo. If you have an opinion, take a fucking stand. This try bait is disingenuous.

DHH @dhh

Also, of all the shit Java degraded programmers to worry about, Interfaces must have been among the worst. Dart has 'em http://t.co/pvgp2lVs

Glenn Vanderburg @glv

@dhh (I'm with you in not liking it, but I don't think either Gilad or Lars are big fans of static typing.)

Glenn Vanderburg @glv

@dhh Knowing the people involved, I suspect it's more "Don't give the people who think they need types a reason to never try Dart."

DHH @dhh

This is CS ivory tower thinking at it's best: Let the proles have their filthy dynamic typing while they play in the mud.

DHH @dhh

Who the fuck writes simple prototyping code and then goes back to rewrite everything for with types for "larger and more stable"?

DHH @dhh

"the programmer can write untyped code for simple prototyping. As the application becomes larger and more stable, types can be added", yuck!

DHH @dhh

If Dart ends up offering any long term advantages over JavaScript, I sure hope someone comes up with CoffeeDart. Or maybe that's BeerDart?

DHH @dhh

While on the subject of Google, they just don't value aesthetics, do they? Dart might be a wonder of comp.sci, but fuck it's ugly.