> I'd give much to know what went so deeply wrong in our industry that we keep making such basic mistakes.
The vast bulk of the industry is much more practical than theoretical. They don't care about your theory about how languages ought to be built. They care about solving the problems that are actually hindering programmers who are trying to write programs.
"But", I hear you say, "null pointer exceptions are one of those problems!" True. "And algebraic types can fix that!" Also true. But here's the thing: (Almost) Nobody cares. Nobody thinks that algebraic types are a price worth paying to fix null pointers.
Do not automatically assume that you are right, and that everybody else is too stupid to see it. Instead, try to expand your mind far enough to see that they may have a better grasp of the trade-offs that confront them than you do. They think your solution doesn't work in their world. Bemoaning their stupidity is the lazy way out. Instead, try to find out why they think that.
I think the problem is not with the industry. The problem is with your expectations of the industry.
In other words, the industry is thinking short term. Often very short term. They only see what's in front of them. Then next problem to solve, the next developer to hire, the next library to use…
So, the industry makes this analysis: yes, I could spend a few days learning about sum types, but it won't save me nearly as much time in avoided null pointer exceptions over the next month. So, no, it costs too much.
I guess we just have to live with this systemic irrationality. I guess long term thinking is just too much to expect. I guess decades old scientific results are too bleeding edge to risk employing them.
No, you either don't understand what I said, or you're trying to make it say what you want. You're not at all saying what I said in other words.
You think the industry is too short-sighted to know what's good for it. I'm saying that you're too narrow-minded to know what's good for the industry.
You think you know better than the industry what the industry ought to be like. I think you're wrong. I think the people in the trenches know better than you how to solve the problems they face. A choice can be different than yours without being stupid or short-sighted.
The vast bulk of the industry is much more practical than theoretical. They don't care about your theory about how languages ought to be built. They care about solving the problems that are actually hindering programmers who are trying to write programs.
"But", I hear you say, "null pointer exceptions are one of those problems!" True. "And algebraic types can fix that!" Also true. But here's the thing: (Almost) Nobody cares. Nobody thinks that algebraic types are a price worth paying to fix null pointers.
Do not automatically assume that you are right, and that everybody else is too stupid to see it. Instead, try to expand your mind far enough to see that they may have a better grasp of the trade-offs that confront them than you do. They think your solution doesn't work in their world. Bemoaning their stupidity is the lazy way out. Instead, try to find out why they think that.
I think the problem is not with the industry. The problem is with your expectations of the industry.