[slimsag]

Replace "JavaScript" with anything and the theory remains the same: those who can articulate and declare nuanced opinions about software they have had to interact with to a reasonable degree are able to critique reasonably.

I dislike the idea that all opinions must be in the form of productive, nuanced statements about how exactly technology should be changed in the service of 'one true set of technology'

I think it's OK for people to declare they enjoy or do not enjoy a particular technology without signaling how exactly they would change it. It's also OK to ignore or accept others opinions of personal taste. That's one of the things that enables us to have many different programming languages today, and enabled us to have JavaScript instead of FORTRANScript.

[throwanem]

Whether or not someone can distinguish "I don't like thing" from "thing is bad" still serves as a useful indicator.

[_hardwaregeek]

That's true, but JavaScript is something especially controversial :D. I've yet to find a programmer who doesn't have some sort of stance on JS

Also yeah it is fine to say "I don't care for JS" sans explanation. But if someone were to ask why, it'd be reasonable to expect a list of justifications that had some nuance.

[orange8]

I'd say that controversy is in direct proportion to its ever growing widespread use.

“There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses.”

― Bjarne Stroustrup, The C++ Programming Language

[primroot]

Which reminds of this story from the Zhuangzi. I hope it is not too irrelevant.

"Zhuangzi was walking on a mountain, when he saw a great tree with huge branches and luxuriant foliage. A wood-cutter was resting by its side, but he would not touch it, and, when asked the reason, said, that it was of no use for anything, Zhuangzi then said to his disciples, 'This tree, because its wood is good for nothing, will succeed in living out its natural term of years.' Having left the mountain, the Master lodged in the house of an old friend, who was glad to see him, and ordered his waiting-lad to kill a goose and boil it. The lad said, 'One of our geese can cackle, and the other cannot - which of them shall I kill?' The host said, 'Kill the one that cannot cackle.'"

https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=2853

[namelosw]

The quote is almost true, unless he didn't quantify things.

Let's say Java and PHP both have a lot of users, but I guess Java receives less percentage of complaints per 100 people. (Just a random example, if you don't agree you can substitute the two languages to suit your own experience)

So to really understand the controversy, it probably makes more sense to compare $NumberOfComplaints / $NumberOfUsers.

[goto11]

The point is that the rate of complaints grows when a language becomes more popular. As long as only enthusiasts and hobbyists use a language, you get relatively few complaints, because these are people who actively chose to use the language. When a language become more popular, more people will be forced to use it, more mediocre people will use it, and its shortcomings will become more apparent on larger-scale projects.

[bryanrasmussen]

And this is why I have yet to hear anyone complain about Brainf*ck.