[gorjusborg]

I think this sentiment underestimates the amount of work people do on existing codebases.

The most reviled languages are often previously loved languages that made writing code easier at the cost of reading and understanding it.

Team 1 secretes reams of instant legacy code, but get money and promotions for shipping it. Team 42 gets handed a steaming pile of manure that is beyond understanding. They then pick up the pitchforks because it is obviously the language's fault.

So, yeah, it isn't the language so much as the average incentives and behaviors around development.

[DeathArrow]

> The most reviled languages are often previously loved languages that made writing code easier at the cost of reading and understanding it.

You claim someone actually loved Objective C or Perl? Or even Scala?

[musicale]

Hahah. I like Objective-C with ARC (in spite of its complexity and limitations), but Swift is more compact and I'm probably never going back (except maybe for hobby projects like writing something for GNUstep.)

I also like how Objective-C++ can mix in C++ code bases. It's an amazing chimera of a language.

[gorjusborg]

That's funny because to me, Perl, is the epitome of a fun write-only language!

[langfan]

I'm sure at least their "parents" did.

$tongue in @cheek

[ihatepython]

> You claim someone actually loved Objective C

The problem with Objective C is that it requires skill. The average developer really is better off using a more remedial language like Swift.