[t14n]

I like the sentiment of the title, even if it gets people riled up. I'm fondly reminded of the introduction from Bob Nystrom's _Crafting Interpreter_ [1]

> This last reason is hard for me to admit, because it’s so close to my heart. Ever since I learned to program as a kid, I felt there was something magical about languages. When I first tapped out BASIC programs one key at a time I couldn’t conceive how BASIC itself was made.

> Later, the mixture of awe and terror on my college friends’ faces when talking about their compilers class was enough to convince me language hackers were a different breed of human—some sort of wizards granted privileged access to arcane arts.

> It’s a charming image, but it has a darker side. I didn’t feel like a wizard, so I was left thinking I lacked some inborn quality necessary to join the cabal. Though I’ve been fascinated by languages ever since I doodled made-up keywords in my school notebook, it took me decades to muster the courage to try to really learn them. That “magical” quality, that sense of exclusivity, excluded me.

> And its practitioners don’t hesitate to play up this image. Two of the seminal texts on programming languages feature a dragon and a wizard on their covers.

> When I did finally start cobbling together my own little interpreters, I quickly learned that, of course, there is no magic at all. It’s just code, and the people who hack on languages are just people.

> There are a few techniques you don’t often encounter outside of languages, and some parts are a little difficult. But not more difficult than other obstacles you’ve overcome. My hope is that if you’ve felt intimidated by languages and this book helps you overcome that fear, maybe I’ll leave you just a tiny bit braver than you were before.

1: https://craftinginterpreters.com/