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> was not sure if the choice of language (Java) for the first half of the book would be a hindrance

I think it is refreshing he uses a "boring" language.




The way you phrase that makes it sound like you're implying there isn't an overwhelming dominance in terms of 'boring languages' and tutorials/content/books/training material. HN presumably doesn't upvote Java book #10^6 unless it is quite unique otherwise.


I didn't worry because of Java's perceived lack of 'excitement'.

Just that I am more familiar with other languages and I worried I'd get lost trying to understand Java and not digest the material properly. I tend to fall down rabbit holes sometimes ...

If anything, this has been another way for me to be more acquainted with Java, which I am happy for :).


Java is the opposite of boring. It lacks basic fundamentals such as algebraic data types and pattern matching. You will be kicking and screaming the whole ride.

A boring language would be a language where you aren't triggered/bothered by its basic ergonomics and hygiene. In Java, you must translate discrete variants into dogmatic OO paradigm instead of using language primitives.

Thanks to Java's poor design, it's fundamentally a hazard and a land mine thanks to null not being first class in type system. The use of null as a value inhabiting any type should result in a slap in the face upon opening a pull request (until Java adopts type-safe optionals like Kotlin)

P.S. Switch expressions and sealed interfaces aren't there yet, Kotlin and Scala are still the only options if you are imprisoned to JVM.



I have the same opinion about Java and I hesitated as well before starting to read the book, so I'll use either Kotlin or common lisp.




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