The BLUB Paradox
The Blub Paradox is a thought experiment proposed by computer programming expert Paul Graham. It goes like this: suppose you are an expert in a programming language called Blub. One day, you stumble upon a new programming language called Foo.
At first, Foo looks very strange to you. Its syntax is completely different from anything you’re used to, and it doesn’t seem to support any of the features that you rely on in Blub. However, as you learn more about Foo, you start to realize that it has some remarkable advantages over Blub. It is much more expressive, for one thing, and it allows programmers to write code that is much more readable and maintainable.
In short, Foo seems like a great improvement over Blub. But then, as you continue to learn about Foo, you start to find yourself running into its own limitations. You find yourself wishing for some of the features that Blub has, and you start to miss the familiarity of the Blub programming language.
In other words, the grass always seems greener on the other side; every programming language has its own advantages and disadvantages, and there is no such thing as a perfect language. The important thing is to find the right tool for the job at hand
This is addressed by a concept called ‘the Blub Paradox’, suggested by Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator.
The Blub Paradox is a heuristic describing the success and proliferation of different technologies.
The Blub Paradox is highly disputed on the internet, since some of the opinions say that this is not really a paradox, but just an idea, or simply a human attitude, describing the situation where a programmer sees the value of the features of language A that he or she has learned, considers languages which lack those features to be underpowered, but rejects the value of features present in language B but not in A.
In the end, the Blub Paradox is frequently criticized for making it difficult for two agents who are each experienced with a different tool to agree on which one is superior. Separately, each will claim that their tool is superior, but the Blub Paradox will prevent the other agent from agreeing. This adds another level to the “Paradox” by allowing the argument to be rejected by its own invocation. As a result, it might be challenging to determine whether you are using the heuristic correctly or are a victim of it at any given time.
