As programmers, we are continuously looking for languages that are performant, productive, and general purpose. Is there any programming language that currently satisfies these properties? Can we ever create one?

In this article, I present the 3P Principle, a fundamental trade-off that affects the design of programming languages and the success of software projects.

Definitions

The 3P Principle dictates that a programming language cannot satisfy the following desirable properties at the same time:

• (General) Purpose: a programming language can be applied to a wide range of tasks and problems (e.g., web programming, computer security, theorem proving, data analysis …).
• Productivity: a programming language that provides several mechanisms to deliver effective programs under time constraints (e.g., dynamic typing, introspection, meta-programming, REPL development …). …