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Chris Smith

Personal blog · cdsmith.wordpress.comprogrammingphilosophy

Chris Smith writes Sententia cdsmithus, a personal blog at cdsmith.wordpress.com about programming and philosophy. Since 2007, 34 different Hacker News readers have linked it 46 times, most often “What to Know Before Debating Type Systems (2008)”. The last post was in 2018, but the archive is still widely read.

Visit the blog
46mentions?
34HN people?
2007–2026first – last linked?
Links on Hacker News per year · peak 13 in 2011

software, programming languages, and other ideas

Most-linked posts?

  1. What to Know Before Debating Type Systems (2008)
    11 people · 13 mentions · first linked 2013-01-19
  2. Why Do Monads Matter?
    3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2018-10-29
  3. An Old Article I Wrote: "What To Know Before Debating Type Systems"
    2 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2011-01-11

What Hacker News says?

  1. pmoriarty · 2017-10-27
    "Having tried both, I've found that the ML-derived languages tend to have a stronger type system that's more rigorously enforced at compile time. I personally find this much more valuable in practice than some of the dynamic magic that you can do with lisp." You probably meant to contrast ML's static typing (not strong typing) with Lisps's dynamic typing. See "What To Know Before Debating Type Systems" : https://cds…

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “Alan Kay on Lisp”
  2. furcyd · 2019-05-03

    Submitted What to Know Before Debating Type Systems (2008) as a story · 190 points

    HN discussion
  3. dpryden · 2025-07-24
    I think you might be thinking of https://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wr... It says: > I give the following general definitions for strong and weak typing, at least when used as absolutes: > Strong typing: A type system that I like and feel comfortable with > Weak typing: A type system that worries me, or makes me feel uncomfortable

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “Use Your Type System”
  4. fogus · 2011-03-14

    Submitted Haskell’s Niche: Hard Problems as a story · 80 points

    HN discussion
  5. blasdel · 2011-05-28
    Your point about class definitions being frozen is apt — but much of the nomenclature you're using to describe languages is meaningless. Please read the classic What To Know Before Debating Type Systems : http://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wro...

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “These are things in PHP which make me sad”
  6. blasdel · 2011-01-11

    Submitted An Old Article I Wrote: "What To Know Before Debating Type Systems" as a story · 38 points

    HN discussion
  7. pmoriarty · 2017-08-19
    You probably mean statically typed, not strongly typed. The distinction is clarified in "What To Know Before Debating Type Systems" : https://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wr...

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “Why Go is my favorite programming language”
  8. vgnet · 2012-04-18

    Submitted Why Do Monads Matter? as a story · 14 points

    HN discussion
  9. Chris_Newton · 2021-02-17
    Those interested in this subject might also enjoy What To Know Before Debating Type Systems : https://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wr... It’s one of those older articles where not everyone will agree with everything, but there’s still a lot of insight and food for thought.

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “Typing Is Hard”
  10. jamesbritt · 2011-08-04

    Submitted Haskell For Kids as a story · 11 points

    HN discussion
  11. mumblemumble · 2020-12-15
    > Some people like more restrictive languages, because they don’t trust others or themselves to reliably use good discretion in the use of powerful features For me, it's not even that. It's that I've discovered that, even when used with discretion, the simple presence of powerful features still makes it harder to reason about how things work. Discretion around powerful features isn't a one-and-done thing; it's an on…

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “REST vs. GraphQL – A search for evidence on which is better”
  12. blasdel · 2011-01-04

    Submitted Big Ideas for Haskell as a story · 6 points

    HN discussion
  13. jerf · 2011-09-07
    I'm not sure the fact that kids can "learn" language X proves much, because generally we're teaching kids language X so they can take some kid-friendly subset of the language and do kid projects in it. This is great on its own, but showing that kids can learn Scala or Haskell doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be able to program in it. Here's a group using Haskell: http://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/09/03…

    Comment linking /2011/09/03/haskell-for-kids-week-3/

    on “Scala use is less good than Java use for at least half of all Java projects”
  14. gnosis · 2013-01-19

    Submitted What to Know Before Debating Type Systems as a story · 4 points

    HN discussion
  15. blasdel · 2011-06-01
    Terrific idea, force them to answer a question too before continuing. Another good test would be for 'strong' or 'weak' typing, linking to this: http://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wro...

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “GPU Password Cracking”
  16. ionfish · 2011-07-18

    Submitted "Industry-Driven" Computer Science Education as a story · 4 points

    HN discussion
  17. danieldk · 2011-09-12
    Somewhat related: Chris Smith is teaching kids programming using a tiny subset of Haskell, the Gloss graphics library, and a web framework that he built around Gloss, using the SafeHaskell extension. His experiences can be followed through his blog. Previous posts: http://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/haskell-for-kids-wee... http://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/haskell-for-kids-wee... http://cdsmith.wordpress.…

    Comment linking /2011/09/10/haskell-for-kids-week-4/

    on “Teach our kids to code”
  18. dons · 2010-05-23

    Submitted Iteratees Step By Step as a story · 4 points

    HN discussion
  19. jolux · 2018-11-17
    https://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/haskell-for-kids-we... Books like The Haskell School of Expression have been teaching functional programming using simple graphics in Haskell for a long time. Need I remind you that the entire concept of a Turtle comes from Logo, which is Lisp minus parentheses?

    Comment linking /2011/08/16/haskell-for-kids-week-1/

    on “Python has brought computer programming to a vast new audience”
  20. blasdel · 2009-08-20

    Submitted Catching a Mathematical Error Using Haskell’s Type System as a story · 4 points

    HN discussion
  21. throwaway81523 · 2022-04-05
    Lame article, read this instead: https://cdsmith.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wr...

    Comment linking /2011/01/09/an-old-article-i-wrote/

    on “It Is Not the Types That Will Help You”
  22. nickb · 2007-09-30

    Submitted The "X Improves My Design Anyway" Myth as a story · 4 points

    HN discussion
  23. dlo · 2014-11-29

    Submitted An Old Article I Wrote: What to Know Before Debating Type Systems as a story · 3 points

    HN discussion
  24. pmoriarty · 2022-05-03

    Submitted What to Know Before Debating Type Systems as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion
  25. ingve · 2018-11-21

    Submitted Why Do Monads Matter? as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion
  26. jasim · 2018-10-29

    Submitted Why Do Monads Matter? (2012) as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion
  27. adito · 2014-06-04

    Submitted CodeWorld Rises Again as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion
  28. wting · 2014-05-10

    Submitted What To Know When Debating Type Systems as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion
  29. hamidr · 2013-04-10

    Submitted 37 Reasons to Love Haskell (playing off the Ruby article) as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion
  30. Mitt · 2012-08-24

    Submitted Static or Dynamic Typing? as a story · 2 points

    HN discussion

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