关键要点
- 说所有语言基本等价的人,暴露的是自己只做过胶水编程:99.5% 的编程是把库函数调用粘起来,所有流行语言都一样擅长,一辈子待在流行语言的交集里也无妨。
- 但剩下 0.5% 格外有趣;好的怪语言的怪不是偶然的,往往意味着存在一种不止于粘库调用的编程形态。
- 具体例子:Lisp 宏——连很多 Lisp 程序员都觉得怪;它本质上难以在不把语言变成 Lisp 方言的前提下实现;宏证明了超越胶水的技术存在,比如先为某类问题写一门语言,再用它写具体应用,而这只是程序操纵技术空间中一个尚未探明的区域。
- 方法:挑一门多数人觉得怪、但其用户中位数很聪明的语言,聚焦它与流行语言交集的差异——这门语言里能说什么,是别的语言里极难说的?
- 学会说以前说不出的话时,往往也学会了想以前想不到的事。
—— 本文选自东西书院 dongxishuyuan.com
PG 原话
99.5% 的编程是把库函数调用粘在一起。所有流行语言干这个都一样好。
99.5% of programming consists of gluing together calls to library functions. All popular languages are equally good at this.
在学会说出以前说不出的话的过程中,你很可能也在学会想出以前想不到的事。
In the process of learning how to say things you couldnt previously say, youll probably be learning how to think things you couldnt previously think.
出处
- 英文原题:Weird Languages(2021年8月)
- 原文:https://www.paulgraham.com/weird.html
- 本书院编译 · 底本为 paulgraham.com 英文原典
中文为本书院编译(意译),关键英文术语保留原文;英文引文逐字核验为原典连续子串。
延伸阅读 · 跨篇互见
黑客与画家(一):他们都是 maker,编程要像画素描一样渐进
黑客和画家都是 maker 而非科学家;好软件像好画一样是渐进精进的,要警惕过早设计。
What hackers and painters have in common is that theyre both makers.
You should figure out programs as youre writing them, just as writers and painters and architects do.
场景交集:学编程、打造 MVP出处:Hackers and Painters · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
自底向上编程:把语言搭向问题
别只把程序写向语言,也把语言搭向程序;语言与程序共同演化,最终代码像为问题量身定制的语言写成。
In Lisp, you dont just write your program down toward the language, you also build the language up toward your program.
Like the border between two warring states, the boundary between language and program is drawn and redrawn, until eventually it comes to rest along the mountains and rivers, the natural frontiers of your problem.
场景交集:学编程、打造 MVP出处:Programming Bottom-Up · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
学生创业指南(下):短板与现在能做的事
别做课程作业式创业;市场不为努力买单;现在就开始理解用户、积累技能。
The market doesnt give a shit how hard you worked.
But the most important skill for a startup founder isnt a programming technique. Its a knack for understanding users and figuring out how to give them what they want.
场景交集:学编程、打造 MVP出处:A Students Guide to Startups · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
Mac的回归:黑客在用什么,十年后人人用什么
黑客正回流Mac(OS X+FreeBSD+设计);在计算机世界,黑客今天在做的,就是所有人十年后在做的。
When it comes to computers, what hackers are doing now, everyone will be doing in ten years.
If you want to attract hackers to write software that will sell your hardware, you have to make it something that they themselves use. Its not enough to make it open. It has to be open and good.
场景交集:学编程出处:Return of the Mac · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
本区为 L2 延展案例(跨篇互见):PG 其他原典中的相关论述,仍属原典直读;引文均为逐字核验。解读与主编观点见 L3(筹备中)。