Which Programming Languages Are Best, Worst?

The title of this article is an extremely silly question. People who claim to have real answers to this question are both pretty silly too, and often consciously or unconsciously enforce exclusionary barriers in our software industry.

Anyhoo, clearly the best language is Python and the worst language is Java. ??

Even if I don't quite know why, I really love Python.

Something about the way code looks and feels and flows really tickles my brain like good music.

Yes, even when I write absurdities like this:

dfMustBeHere = dfMustBeHere[dfMustBeHere['_merge'] == 'both']        

Programming languages are not good or bad or better or worse. They have purposes and people have tastes.

I love Python, SQL, CSS, Haskell.

I quite like HTML, JS, VB, ASP, PHP.

For me C, C#, Kotlin are pretty "meh".

I really hate looking at Java.

These are my personal preferences, nothing more.

Looking at Java makes me angry like looking at a rubbish strewn landscape. I object aesthetically. It makes me feel someone has deliberately spoilt something sacred.

Unlike that image, Java is objectively just fine.

It's just my feelings.

I still don't want to see any Java.

Plenty of people seem to love Java, and I'm sure many of them have similar reactions to the languages I love.

That's fine too. We don't all have to like the same things.

And if you don't care either way, that's also fine.

I happen to appreciate pretty code in a very similar way to my appreciation of nice music or a beautifully written book.

I really like to look at it. I go back and re-read code for pleasure.

At least for me, software is a blank canvas and some colourful crayons from which you can create infinite beautiful scenes that come to life and perform magic.

It doesn't make my tastes right or better.

If you also happen to have tastes in code, please do not let our industry's vocally toxic gatekeepers put you off.

Make art that you like using the materials that suit you.

And if for you software is just a job, or it is a puzzle, or it is a craft, or it is an engineering challenge, or something else entirely, pursue that!

Just because I happen to like code as a type of art, doesn't mean you must.

There is not one correct way to make working software, there are a million.

There is not one standard for what makes software good, there are a million.

And while bad unreadable broken insecure unmaintainable software does exist, you can learn your million & 1th way to avoid it.

Don't allow anyone to tell you what box you must place software inside.

And let's stop trying to impose our own subjective vision of what box software must be inside onto people who come with their own dreams and approach.

We can learn from them instead, or at least just let them be.