From: Austin Ziegler Date: 2006-10-16T10:00:14+09:00 Subject: Re: What is the reason for this syntax? On 10/15/06, Kevin Olemoh wrote: > All I said was that perhps there needs to be a movement to remove some > of the differences in the behavior of programming languages; in effect > an effort analogus to the movement to have a set of standards for html > design so that coders don't have to code differently for four and five > browsers, not to mention accounting for the bugs within those browsers > that affect how pages are rendered. These two issues are completely unrelated; trying to relate them is a matter of inexperience. The browser standards issue is more analagous to the standards track for ISO C and ISO C++ than what you're suggesting, which *is* attempting to standardize on a single set of concepts for programming languages. I suggest that you start learning a few more languages and understanding how they represent different *concepts* differently, which leads to syntactical and other differences that preclude what you're suggesting, often. > What you are suggesting is that the differences between languages are > a good thing and thinking in different ways given the structure of a > language is a good thing, and you are correct to a point the diversity > also makes it more difficult for people to work effectively because > they have to deal with two and three sometimes totally different ways > of thinking. I absolutely *know* that the differences are a good thing. I think that you're misunderstanding what I'm saying because you've already made up your mind, despite all evidence to the contrary. > This kind of thing makes communication between different people more > difficult than it would be if there was a common language that both > could use to communicate. Saying that I am naive for suggesting this > is like suggesting that it is a good idea to expect business people to > speak nearly every language currently spoken on earth rather than > gravitating towards a common language simply because the other > languages exist in the first place. I think your position here is na�ve, and suggests a monoglot mindset. I'm not a polyglot, but I work with polyglots and work in a polyglot world. International Business 101: If you're selling a product in Mexico, you do your marketing in Spanish. More than that: you have a Mexican person involved in the preparation of the marketing. When you're selling in Canada, you don't advertise with the *exact* same ad that you use in the U.S., and you really don't do so if you're selling in Quebec. There are cultural differences; trying to make everything a monoculture is arrogant, ignorant, and ultimately stultifying. -austin -- Austin Ziegler * halostatue@gmail.com * http://www.halostatue.ca/ * austin@halostatue.ca * http://www.halostatue.ca/feed/ * austin@zieglers.ca