why are programmers so passionate about their tools?

Question

What is it about our profession that breeds such passionate support for our preferred IDE, OS, language, algorithm, licence, etc? Is it the (relatively) nascent stage of the craft so that the winners of the debate can potentially gain a dominant position, or is it a reflection of an innate competitiveness that is less likely to be exercised through sport or other pursuits?

In it's worst forms, this passion has given rise to a long history of dogmatic flame wars, and perhaps provides pointers as to why it's taken so long to create meaningful standards in many aspects of Computing.

Should we be proud of our passions and differences, or working to "encourage diversity" and learn from each other?

Answer 1

For the same reason a craftsman is passionate about his tools.

A carpenter has his favorite plane and hammer, just as a programmer has his favorite text editor.

Also, most craftsmen prefer one specific type of wood they work on, and there might be discrepancies, which one is 'better' for things like making doors or tables.

Same thing applies to programmers when they talk about programing languages.

Answer 2

I think sometimes we are afflicted with tunnel vision. The tool becomes the end instead of the means.

I work at a place that has continual conflict between the Java crew and the .NET crew. They bicker about whether RAD7 competes with Visual Studio, and who should develop the "important" software, and so on.

Platform and tool bigotry is just bigotry, and it blinds us to changes in our field, yet I think we all are afflicted with it once in a while.

Answer 3

It often starts when somebody who uses one tool implies (or even says outright) that not only do they like their favorite tool more, but that the advantages of their favorite tool are so clear that anybody not using them must not "get it" yet.

A lot of the time, this is someone mistaking their personal sweet spot in a field of tradeoffs for objective fact, but sometimes, it's possibly even true. But that almost doesn't even matter, because once the discussion takes that turn, you've tied up personal identity and credibility with tool choice, and the engines of tribalism start a hummin'.

See: Why I Hate Advocacy. Great piece.

Answer 4

Because I am right, and it is unthinkable that I am wrong. I would rather die being wrong then to admit it.

Answer 5

When someone decides that something is theirs, they're willing to defend it because it's theirs. It really doesn't matter at that point whether one tool is objectively better than the other because the issue is more psychological than empirical for the devotee.

As for whether we should be proud of being narrow-minded in choosing tools: of course not, but realistically, we're only human, and we prefer our tools.