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Discussion on: What do you think about the idea that "there should be only one way of doing a thing" in programming languages?

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Jonathan

You could quit your job by saying "I quit", or you could say something a bit more lengthy and nuanced, like "All good things must come to an end. I feel like it's time for me to move on." They both basically say the same thing, but the second one carries a more information and conveys some depth and emotion.

In their expressive capacity I think programming languages are similar to human languages. That they are ways of expressing intent, not merely ways of getting the computer to do X or Y. For that expressiveness to be possible, it's necessary for there to be more than one way of doing something in a language.