Journal Chacham's Journal: Verbiage: On programming languages people use being better 4
Rob van Wijk blogged a good point:
When faced with a challenging problem, most people tend to resort to the language they are most comfortable with. I know I do. For example, I'm way better with PL/SQL than I am with Java. So when faced with a hard algorithm, I'll always use PL/SQL. And I bet a Java programmer reasons the other way round. So when saying that straight SQL is harder to maintain than PL/SQL, I guess you are really saying that your PL/SQL skills are very good, but your SQL skills are, well, somewhat less than very good. That's no problem at all, since you will still be able to build applications effectively. But I don't think the language itself is to blame, it's the skills of the people talking that language.
He's making the simple point that its not that the language is better at the job, it's that the coder is better at the language.
Some things are obvious, but only after you think about them.
Yes (Score:2)
And to step back further - it's the craftsmen, not the tool. Though this does help us to see - that some tools are not appropriate to some jobs. There are some things that pure SQL cannot do - which is why the extensions exist.
Of course most modern languages can all pretty much do the same things, they just go about it in different ways.
Re: (Score:1)
There are some things that pure SQL cannot do
Heretic!
Anything that cannot be done is SQL is illegal, immoral, and fattening. So even if there was a case--which of course there isn't--it would be useless.
The problem is... (Score:1)
...when people know only one language really well, that's in just one, uh, type or kind of "environment".
Serious programmers should prolly know one largish-scale mainstream compiled/semi-compiled language (e.g. C | C++ | C# | Java), and SQL, and JavaScript, and an environmental scripting language (e.g. NT cmd | sh | perl). Otherwise you end up with abominations like things belonging in the "write a quickie script" milleu being done in Java, where a bunch of disk thrashing and memory fluctuations has to occu
Re: (Score:1)
Good points.
I was going to post about half of what you said, but i couldn't quickly figure out how to say it. You said more and well. Thanx.