X vs. Y - recommended reading

Most language advocates:
a. don''t realize it (because Language X is the One True Way and the rest are too low/high level, too slow and don''t have feature Y)
b. don''t even know their target language completely
c. don''t realize that languages come and go like everything else

The thing is I''ve found the Internet is a huge source of information and an equally big source of misinformation. The fact that anyone can contribute is good and bad. Slashdot is horrible in this regard. I''d love to see a forum/news site that insists on HEAVY moderation, where outright wrong comments are just removed entirely. Then I think people will be less likely to contribute what they "think" is right and more prone to either ask questions or actually search the board and look for answers.

Usually X vs. Y threads have a tendency to suck anyway. Sorry to sound cynical but I''m sure another thread like the D thread will pop up in less than a month''s time, people seem to enjoy shouting that a language that isn''t C++ inherently sucks, and that programming languages have to difficult to learn.

i for myself somehow love to join the montly raytracing against rastericing thread, as well as the (newly) monthly C++ against D thread..

the more such threads, the more popular.. hey.. months ago, there wasn''t ANY thread about raytracing vs rastericing, nobody even believed that was possible. and nobody knew D.. more and more, both get at least "fightable", so powerful and known enough to get into the thoughts of people.

and thats whats worth fighting for..

vs threads help to open your mind by seeing how stupid closed minds are, and by seeing the closed minds of the "other side".. learn from those threads, its worth it.. i''ve done it so often..

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If that''s not the help you''re after then you''re going to have to explain the problem better than what you have. - joanusdmentia

davepermen.net

Nice read.

I hope I don''t come off like that.

"Without deviation, progress itself is impossible." -- Frank Zappa

People start X vs Y threads because they are unsure of which is better, and they are unsure because any advantage X has over Y or Y has over X is so rediculously small that they might as well be considered even.

[edited by - Raloth on November 24, 2003 5:29:32 PM]

quote:

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Original post by Raloth
People start X vs Y threads because they are unsure of which is better, and they are unsure because any advantage X has over Y or Y has over X is so rediculously small that they might as well be considered even.

[edited by - Raloth on November 24, 2003 5:29:32 PM]

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Why people start them is irrelevant. A vs. discussion could be carried out in a rational way. There''s absolutely nothing wrong with evaluating and comparing the good and the bad. Unfortunately, it rarely happens that way. As soon as one person makes a remark about a bad feature of X, someone will take offense and start bashing Y. Then the whole thread degenerates.

That''s what the article discusses.