

WTFs by programming language repository on github - edw519
http://www.codeodor.com/index.cfm/2011/8/11/WTFs-by-programming-language-repository-on-github/3395

======
runn1ng
Let me copy+paste part of one of the comments to clarify high numbers of WTFs
in Obj-C from the article, from Sammy Larbi:

For Objective C, I have some light to shed on that situation. If you look at
the search results for WTF and Objective C (through github's search), you'll
see there are a lot of references to Webkit, which has the Web Template
Framework, which gets abbreviated to WTF namespace in the code. ( I learned
that from [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/834179/wtf-is-wtf-in-
webk...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/834179/wtf-is-wtf-in-webkit-code-
base) )

------
FuzzyDunlop
WTFs aren't self-documenting. I'd prefer to use a better, more descriptive
metric for code-profanity.

Like seeing how many people liberally apply 'that shit' to their comments and
shit:
[https://github.com/search?type=Everything&language=&...](https://github.com/search?type=Everything&language=&q=that%2Bshit&repo=&langOverride=&x=0&y=0&start_value=1)

------
Joeboy
WTFs per comment would seem to me like a much more interesting measurement.
Eg. I'm pretty sure CSS's low rating has more to do with the typical sparsity
of comments than the awesome sensibleness and consistency of CSS renderer
implementations.

Edit: Also takes no account for the quantity of code in each repository.
Languages that are used for large projects are at an automatic disadvantage.

~~~
codeodor
I agree, but I have no idea how to get that information out of github, aside
from perhaps iterating over every project there.

I think it would be cool if they made some aggregate data like that available
though. =)

------
Macha
The biggest surprises for me: (copied from my comment on the article):

CSS is also surprisingly low. I would have expected it to dwarf any actual
programming language, because IE6 exists, but it's actually lower than most.
(Joeboy has a possible explanation:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2899418>)

I also find it interesting that functional languages (Haskell, Erlang) are
pretty low. These have been thrust into a more mainstream light lately, so I'd
imagine they'd be doing worse from programmers who are less experienced in
them using them. But they're not like that at all. If anything, Haskell has
done pretty good.

~~~
jwarzech
Perhaps dealing with IE6 incompatibilities results in use of stronger language
than 'WTF'

~~~
davidcuddeback
Very possible. We have a sheet of paper on the wall where we tally the number
of times that IE has been the bane of our existence. I think that piece of
paper keeps a number of profanities out of our source code and stylesheets.

~~~
jwarzech
It's okay cause IE is now all about embracing web standards and we know have
access to all of the bleeding edge web technologies...oh wait SVG has been
around (in other browsers and plugins) for a decade :P

------
TorKlingberg
It could be worth clarifying that this is counting instances of the string
'WTF' in code, not code that makes you think WTF, as on
<http://thedailywtf.com/>

------
samgro
I'm surprised C++ isn't in the lead. I've had more WTF moments reading C++
than any other language.

~~~
tomjen3
That is because most of the C++ monents (at least for me) have resulted in
code that cannot even compile and the WTFs have been the pages and pages of
template error messages.

------
michaelcampbell
What I found interesting is that the 3 lowest ones in his graph aren't
programming languages.

------
nknight
So, I'm both a developer and a WoW player, but I've never done WoW mod
development.

That said, I do know that WoW UI mods are written in Lua, and I also know that
there's an interface-related folder in the WoW directory structure called WTF.
If there are a lot of WoW mods on github, this could be related to Lua's
outlier WTF status.

~~~
troeks
Looking at the search results[1] it mostly seems to be the same code being
found in different repositories/forks. One of the most forked Lua repositories
contains an add-on with a 8 localization keys named SoundWTF for example.

[1]
[https://github.com/search?type=Code&language=Lua&q=w...](https://github.com/search?type=Code&language=Lua&q=wtf)

