My post last week on how a long-time C++ aficionado (me) finally accepted that Lisp is a better programming language got a lot of hits. And I do mean a lot of hits: over a three-day period, nearly eleven times as many people visited Geek Drivel (to see that entry) as had visited in the entire month before that, which to that point had been Geek Drivel’s most popular month.

The reason is obvious, of course: that article was picked up on Reddit, Y-Combinator, and apparently a few other sites as well. It was an interesting glimpse at what it must be like to have a truly popular blog.

The vast majority of comments on it were less than flattering. Fortunately, I’ve developed a thick skin over the years. 🙂 People didn’t like my use of the term “better” (which admittedly was an imprecise choice of words, but it’s still the best one I can find). Some sneered at the example that finally convinced me (which misses the point completely, it’s the combination of what you can do in the language, how quickly you can develop the code for it, and the sheer elegance of it that makes it better, not that specific example). Others disdainfully dismissed the entire premise with comments such as “C/C++ is still faster,” or “gives you more control over low-level details like memory allocation” (both of which are true, but irrelevant to the article). But obviously I’d hit a nerve somewhere, because a lot of people still came to read it, though I’ll never know whether they agreed, disagreed, or just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I wish I had some insightful piece of wisdom to offer about that, but so far all I can see is that if you want a popular blog entry, post something that is controversial, and that people feel strongly about. It’s a good thing that any impulse to seek popularity was beaten out of me in childhood. 🙂