Clean Coder: The Dark Path (2017)

3 months ago

The author has been exploring Swift and Kotlin, noting their similarities and functional programming characteristics.
Both Swift and Kotlin emphasize strong static typing, aiming to close type holes present in their parent languages (Objective-C and Java).
The author expresses concern over the inflexibility of Swift and Kotlin's type systems, particularly around exceptions, inheritance, and nullable types.
Swift and Kotlin enforce strict rules for exception handling, inheritance (using 'open' and 'override' keywords), and nullable type checks, which the author views as overly restrictive.
The author questions whether the responsibility for managing risks (like exceptions, inheritance, and nulls) should lie with the language or the programmer.
The critique extends to the complexity and verbosity introduced by these language features, likening them to 'language lawyering'.
The author argues that defects are the fault of programmers, not languages, and emphasizes the importance of testing over language-enforced constraints.
The article concludes by warning against over-reliance on language safeties, advocating instead for rigorous testing practices to prevent software defects.

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