Comment by kazinator
12 days ago
> To the vast majority of programmers, syntax matters. C-style with brackets, or python whitespace, or Ruby do/end, these fit better the brains of the majority of programmers.
You have no idea whether this is actually true, or whether people have just fit their brains to what is out there.
The idea that programming language syntax fits people's brains rings untrue for anyone who has watched beginners struggle with it, or remembers being one.
Plus, add a heaping tablespoon of survivorship bias.
1. Many people try programming.
2. The vast majority of the people who try programming are subject to external forces that guide them to whatever they learn and use.
3. Out of these, a certain fractions stick with it and are found programming in the long run, even working in it.
We could easily conclude (probably quite wrongly) that the popular languages turn people away from programming, except for a few weirdos for whom they click.