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Comment by st1x7 | Hacker News Reader

As a sidenote, does anyone else find the language identification terms cringey? Rustacean, gopher, pythonista... just atrocious.

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I wouldn't say that it is cringey, but I agree with the sentiment. It always seemed kind of weird that programmers would attach themselves and identify with a programming language tribe, even though they are very well capable of learning other languages and frequently do.

Yet each language does have defining characteristics, and you work differently in different languages. I regularly write both Rust and JavaScript, and I will design and architect things quite differently between the languages, playing to the strengths of each language. So languages are fairly tribal in this way, and in others also once you add the rest of their ecosystem.

Code that is written in one language in the style of another can be "interesting" - I once ported code that was Common Lisp written in the style of Occam... Also saw C sources that did the cpp thing of trying to make C look like Pascal, fortunately managed to avoid working on that!

The terms also emerge for certain languages with a specific type of community around them. For example, I don't know if C++ developers really care enough to give themselves these kinds of labels.

Most don't love the language that much.

I'm not implying that it's a bad language though. Like Java, it's a very widely used language in enterprise and industry, and I think that most of the programmers in those languages view programming as just a 9-to-5, white collar job that puts food on the table. Nothing wrong with this view either, but it's not the kind of environment that would create memes or inside jokes.

Rust, Haskell or Ocaml, on the other hand, are exactly the kind of languages that passionate programmers, that spend a lot of time in chatrooms and on forums like HN, would spend their time on.

That makes sense.

My enthusiasm for Rust is _because_ it lets me escape from C++. It's probably the same for Python and Go users.

Well, I sometimes use labels like these, but only in terms of 'what hat am I currently wearing'?

Honestly? No. I find them light-hearted and fun, they sound a bit silly but they're just part of the marketing and never have to be used if you're being serious, since you can always just say "____ programmers" and no-one will call you out on it.

Quite the contrary - I love it.

I don't identify as any of them myself, since I'd be some kind of unclassifiable chimera, but the touch of whimsy warms my heart.

Well then hold on to your hat then and take a look at this:

https://rustacean.net/

I mean it's an adorable crab! Who wouldn't want to join the rustacean legion behind Ferris. (Who is presumably named after Ferrous[Iron] which 'Rust's)

I’m noticing a trend of mostly younger people misusing “cringe” and I wonder if it may have to do with dumb videos on YouTube misusing it, or maybe the word is changing. To cringe is to feel disgust or embarrassment that results in a physical reaction such as a grimace. Generally, this can be felt watching very socially awkward situations. Is this what you mean? Or is there a better word, like immature, silly, strange, or something? I think most people are not feeling socially awkward or whatnot referring to a community by a mascot or other title. It is just a silly word for “practitioners of a given language.” We do that with all kinds of term, roles, titles, professions, hobbies, etc.

Why does it make you cringe?

I think cringe fits here.

If I met a developer who said they were a gopher or rustacean or whatever. I'd feel physically embarrased for them.

"physically embarrassed". I like it; great distillation of the concept.

The word “cringe” has morphed into “that makes me cringe,” yes. It’s more a certain segment of internet culture than “young people,” though.

Yes. Fanboyism in general is cringe, but these "quirky" names are pure 100% dev.to-level cringe.

But to be honest, computer people were always more prone to cringey stuff than regular folk... (an extreme example would be the classic clip of Stallman eating dead skin from his feet) It's something with our upbringing I guess.

No, the rest of us have a sense of humor.

I'm really glad Elixir devs are not referred to as "Sorcerers".

Wouldn't "Alchemists" fit even better?

Nope, it's fun

What do you propose as an alternative? "I am an aficionado of _____?"

> aficionado

Just as I thought that it couldn't get worse.

The alternative is to say that you're a developer in a given language or a user of the language. You don't have to create a whole tribe around it.

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