> If a couple esoteric languagn features take an extra few hours to learn but reduce LOC tenfold, it's a price I'd pay every time.
Issue is that a beginner pre-conditioned long enough on "verboser, imperativer" models/languages, when reading/comprehending such a codebase, has to literally mentally expand every 1 line into 10 upon reading, for quite a while .. some weeks, some months, as more intuitive grasp sets in slowly over time. Probably what happened at OP's quoted company and with the different speeds in comprehending what "clever" (compact) code some of their coders came up with, what they flippantly called "code that was harder to understand by others"..
Issue is that a beginner pre-conditioned long enough on "verboser, imperativer" models/languages, when reading/comprehending such a codebase, has to literally mentally expand every 1 line into 10 upon reading, for quite a while .. some weeks, some months, as more intuitive grasp sets in slowly over time. Probably what happened at OP's quoted company and with the different speeds in comprehending what "clever" (compact) code some of their coders came up with, what they flippantly called "code that was harder to understand by others"..