this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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Most of the time when people say they have an unpopular opinion, it turns out it's actually pretty popular.

Do you have some that's really unpopular and most likely will get you downvoted?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Python is just as bad if not worse then JavaScript. The fact that if you misspell a variable name, instead of giving an error like any sane language, Python code will still run, but do something different then it looks like it does, creating a hard to spot bug is just awful. The amount of time I have spent debugging python code only to find a tiny typo that any sane language would have caught before the code even ran is several weeks now, I can't imagine how much collective time has been lost over this, and a few other, horrible languages.

[โ€“] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you using type annotations and mypy? I strongly suggest them. Type systems are a great way to catch typos and errors!

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks, this doesn't fix all the problems I have, but should make maintaing Python significantly easier.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You got it!

I love Python, it's probably my favourite language, but I'll be the first to admit that its fast-and-loose style can make certain kinds of errors easier to make and harder to notice/fix. Glad this can help a little!

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Huh? That's not what happens at all. Python doesn't just mahically create variables for you, you get an undefined reference error like any other sane language.

https://www.online-python.com/Xp3JG1rxbK

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Except it does for assignments.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Ah, ok sure. Every dynamically typed language does that with assignments though, that's kinda the point of dynamic typing. You can use linters to easily catch that kinda stuff though.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Interesting, what are some "good" languages then in your opinion?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Do you use a linter? I switched to Ruff several months ago and it is amazing, it finds many defects and runs very quickly (even on huge disgusting legacy files)

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

if you use vscode, you'll never experience that issue. It highlights unused variables so you'll spot your mistake immediately