Artful Code

Not long ago a project required me to learn a little Java. As a long-time elitist functional programmer, I was not extremely excited. Due to the low quality of Java software I have used, I assumed, like many, that Java produced slow, bloated, and buggy software. Some languages just feel clunky. Submit article

Paul Graham notes that, “A popular recipe for new programming languages in the past 20 years has been to take the C model of computing and add to it, piecemeal, parts taken from the Lisp model, like runtime typing and garbage collection.” This is what has made Python such a wonderful, elegant, and concise language. [...]

Why’s Poignant Guide claims that after learning Ruby you will write code so elegant it will make you cry. Paul Graham was not so dramatic, but he was closer to the mark. Lisp teaches you the elegance and grace of recursive and applicative programming. This creates beautiful and concise code. Submit article

Everyone has read this article. It explains how Ruby’s enumerable effectively makes it a lisp. Like all we arrogant lispers, I of course disagree. That’s not to say that Ruby isn’t a good language, though. It’s just that it’s more idiomatic of Perl than Lisp. Submit article

PHP is a procedural language. This is not a criticism. PHP revolutionized CGI by being half-scripting language, half templating system. It is, in fact, about the most powerful templating system around. The fact that object oriented syntax was even able to be bolted on is a testament to that. Submit article