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Comment by oblio

2 days ago

> But this is the guy who only like 5 years ago was convinced that static analysis was actually a good thing for code.

Why isn't it?

> Interpreted stuff is slow

Well, it is. You can immediately tell the difference between most C/C++/Rust/... programs and Python/Ruby/... Either because they're implicitly faster (nature) or they foster an environment where performance matters (nurture), it doesn't matter, the end result (adult) is what matters.

> networks are slow

Networks are fast(er), but they're still slow for most stuff. Gmail is super nice, but it's slower than almost desktop email program that doesn't have legacy baggage stretching back 2-3 decades.

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oblio

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cogman10  2 days ago

> Why isn't it?

I didn't say it isn't good. I'm saying that Carmack wasn't convinced of the utility until much later after the entire industry had adopted it. 5 years is wrong (time flies) it was 2011 when he made statements about how it's actually a good thing.

> Well, it is.

Not something I'm disputing. I'm disputing the degree of slowness, particularly in languages with good JITs such as Java and Javascript. There's an overestimation on how much the language matters.

> Gmail is super nice, but it's slower than almost desktop email program

Now that's a weird comparison.

A huge portion of what makes gmail slow is that it's a gigantic and at this point somewhat dated javascript application.

Look, not here to defend JS as the UX standard of modern app dev, I don't love it.

What I'm talking about slow networks is mainly in terms of backend servers talking to one another. Because of the speed of light, there's always going to be some major delays moving data out of the datacenter into a consumer device. Within the datacenter, however, things will be pretty dang nippy.