Readit NewsDeleted Comment
This is why I programmed in Pharo (a Smalltalk descendant) professionally for a while to get that experience [1].
I feel like that using iPython is good enough of an experience to be honest. Could it be better? Sure.
But the fact that this is my iPython session:
ipython Python 3.12.9 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Mar 4 2025, 22:44:42) [Clang 18.1.8 ] Type 'copyright', 'credits' or 'license' for more information IPython 8.32.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.
In [1]: def foo(): ...: return 'bar' ...:
In [2]: foo() Out[2]: 'bar'
In [3]: def foo(): ...: return 'baz' ...:
In [4]: foo() Out[4]: 'baz'
says a whole lot I think :)
The cool thing with Pharo and Lisp of course is the whole "treating code as data", where Lisp is arguably even more intense at it than Pharo - since the syntax is basically an abstract syntax tree. It really allows for automated reasoning (e.g. "give me all functions of xyz type with abc parameters, constrained to only pqr classes and only showcase the lines where they were being called, skip the definitions). So that's awesome. I haven't tested Python on this a whole lot yet and I don't know enough about Lisp to say anything useful about it, but with Pharo I vaguely remember doing some insane things since you can also access the AST and have reflection on that as well.
Pharo of course has the whole debugger inside a debugger inside a debugger experience. But that has had quite some limited use because a new process is spawned for that new debugger, so you won't have access to the exact same context that you need. I vaguely remember that some class based variables didn't have the state I needed when I went debugger inside a debugger mode. I think it was WADynamicVariable of the Seaside framework and it was because it was a singleton like thing (IIRC) and in order to have a certain behavior it could only do that by triggering exceptions (I really don't remember it well). The point is, it needed such obscure behavior to behave in the way it needed to that the debugger inside a debugger wasn't expected to copy that exception flow context, as it wasn't really intended to be used like that.
[1] I would've worked there for longer but the company got Americanized. Our company - that was profitable - got subsumed by a venture capitalist firm that had 2 companies like it that were unprofitable. We became a subsidiary/sub-company basically. Suddenly tech layoffs came, 2 rounds at least, because the company as a whole was unprofitable (as in: the other 2 subsidiaries were unprofitable and we had to pay the price). I'd have stayed there for much longer if that didn't happen. I will go on record and say that: it is my personal opinion that they destroyed a good company with good people. I won't name the company, but given that I'm posting under my real name, it's not too hard to figure out.
It's amusing that in the mid-2010 with the raise of Node, web (turned "full stack") devs advocated for JS and how static typing was really not that relevant. Then TS came and suddenly the same folks considered it an absolut game changer.
Or even simpler: If it's 0, return "even". If not, do a recursive call to n-1, if that equals "even", return "odd", otherwise return "even".
But the best way is probably to just use a library. Yes, 500MB of additional dependencies, but then it's a one-liner.
Maybe we should collect all of these predictions, then go back in 5-10 years and see if anyone was actually right.
I work on a large product with two decades of accumulated legacy, maybe that's the problem. I can see though how generating and editing a simple greenfield web frontend project could work much better, as long as actual complexity is low.
---
For decades, I have been asking for agendas; I have asked for clarification on what to do to prepare; I have even suggested that we have solid outcomes. None of which are followed nor what anyone else wants.
Even as a leader at organizations where I can enforce this on my team, it makes absolutely no difference. Hell, Google Calendar (we use Workspace at my current org) doesn't even have solid support for good meeting invite commentary. And, even if it did, 99.99999% of folks wouldn't read any of it anyway.
Description is sent along with the initial invite, and for subsequent invites, there's a text box for commentary on the sent emails.
Or what are you looking for?
> The true risk is social engineering scams...
Exactly. My grandma is very susceptible to phishing and social engineering, I don't want her scanning random QR codes that would lead to almost identical service to the one she would think she is on and end up with identity theft or the likes.
> Regularly change passwords: Frequent password changes were once common advice, but there is no evidence it reduces crime, and it often leads to weaker passwords and reuse across accounts.
Database leaks happen all the time.
Plus, if your password gets stolen, there's a good chance most of the damage has already been done by the time you change the password based on a schedule, so any security benefit is only for preventing long-term access by account hijackers.
For example?
Which Smalltalk features do compile-time type declarations replace?