sturger

These are all the old arguments Assembly threw at C when C started taking over. Now it’s C’s turn to be put out to pasture and it’s rolling out the same complaints.

C had decades to solve its security problems and has not been successful enough. It’s time for a new standard.

If you need faster than Rust and can afford the security issues, run C. If you need faster than C and have some top talent, use Assembly. If you need it faster and can afford the ASIC, use Verilog/VHDL. If you need faster and can afford a fab plant, start laying out your transistors with tape and a light table.

… I start high level (Python, Lua, GDScript, etc), then move the slow, stable bits to something faster. That’s a really effective flow, and at the end, I get a great scripting interface for my game.
That’s the way to do it. “Premature optimization being the root of all evil” and all. Something that is slow but works is always better than something fast that doesn’t.”

But then, given the complaints, I’m not actually sure they do want to build a game, I think they really want to build a language, and maybe an engine.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. I personally find no interest in programming for programming’s sake. I need a problem to solve first. But what if I don’t have a problem to solve? Create one! Generating a problem is a valid way to let myself “enjoy” the combined agony/pleasure of programming.

If you feel crazy because you don’t fit in, it’s entirely possible you’re not the crazy one. It’s entirely possible a large portion of society is on another bender.

I found the book, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” by Charles Mackay helpful.
It was first published in 1841, so it’s in the public domain and available online. I found my copy in a used bookstore for a $1.
Mackay documents many of the public manias that overtook society up to that point. He describes dozens of them and remember, his list stops in the mid-1800’s.
Being aware of this pattern helps me to realize that a large number of humans are highly illogical. It helps me to understand that yes, a large number of people can all go off the deep end. It’s not me, it’s them. Notably, I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is lie low and ride it out.

Honestly, my whining isn’t aimed directly at this piece, but to vent my spleen about yet another “Python is slowwww…” missive that is filling the internet.
Theirs comes across to me as “Every language is not good enough for me” whine. Two whines passing in the night, mine and theirs.
Thanks for taking the time to make a good point and apologies for my hypocritical whine about whining.

Agreed. Overpaid, sociopathic and overly-powerful schmucks. But still schmucks.

[Begin Soapbox]

1. If your idea of demonstrating your programming creds online is bashing Python for being “too slow”, you’re just revealing that you don’t understand your job as a programmer.
2. A programmer’s job is to figure out a good language to use for the application. Notice I didn’t say, “the best language”; because there isn’t one.
3. Python too slow for your application? Great. Uncheck that box and investigate any of the innumerable other languages out there.
4. There’s not a good language for your application? Some Really Good programmers create their own language. Other Really Good programmers just use assembly for fuck’s sake. If Margaret Hamilton can land people on the Moon in 1969 using 16kB of government hardware, you should be able to code a video game with computers several billion times more powerful. Or just ask ChatGPT to do it for you. I’ve read good things about it online.
5. Never underestimate the utility of just requiring everyone to buy faster hardware to cover up crappy programming/business decisions. It’s been done since the first caveman programmed a computer by striking two transistors together.
6. Most programmers have to make due with what they’re provided with at work. If you’re at work, get back to it and figure out how to solve the problem. That means stop your posing online about “there’s no programming language good enough for my application”. If explaining to your boss that you need a different approach didn’t work, work on your resume instead.

[End Soapbox]

They don’t care about actual user engagement.

“Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I will behave. …"

It’s almost as if CEOs are just regular schmucks that fall prey to BS advertising.

Now it is pretty much one line of code.

… and 5kW of GPU time. 😆

The concrete isn’t the problem. Like mentioned above, the sealife growth is. Also, metal and moving mechanicals are savaged by seawater (and the sealife growth). Keeping things working on the surface of the water is difficult and expensive. Water pressure makes that even worse. Maintenance requires divers which are likewise very expensive.