Poll: Programming Languages

I'm contemplating resuming work on manakin, and I accept that at this point it's so stale that it's succumbed to sufficient bitrot that I might as well start from scratch, using what I had as a model. What I have was in large part intended to be a quick prototype anyway.

This project has two purposes. One is to build a working Twitter client that I can live in and with, with a UI that doesn't make me want to scream, and with whatever functionality seems relevant to me. I think I'll stick to keeping it in the terminal so I can access it remotely using screen, although I'm finding myself increasingly more frustrated with the terminal's limitations than enthusiastic about its advantages.

The other purpose was to get more experience in a language I didn't have much experience in. Last time around I picked Python, because I've heard so many positive things and it seemed like a good job skill to pick up. I feel like I only scratched the surface of Python, so I could certainly stick with that when I go back again, but I'm also open to alternatives.

What language, that isn't Perl and isn't Java, do you think I should use making a terminal-based, UI-design focused Twitter app as an excuse to improve my skills in. Why that language? Are there any particular libraries I should/shouldn't use when doing so?

Poll for Everybody: Twitter UI

Language choice kind of matters not at all to most projects, so the question in my last post is really about what's worth learning to broaden my horizons. It's also a question that's limited to a pretty strict subset of my followers. Here's one explicitly for the bikeshed crowd.

My goal with manakin is to have a totally awesome UI. So, an open poll to help me brainstorm for what I want it to do and get me excited about it:

What features would make for an awesome UI in your opinion? What features have you seen in an existing client and loved. What misfeatures have you hated? What do you really wish your client could do but you've never seen?

Features which don't apply to the terminal still welcome. If you're aware of limitations on scope of a feature (e.g. only makes sense on a SmartPhone), that doesn't make them uninteresting, but mentioning that would be great.

Crossposts!

For anybody who missed this well-hidden new feature, you can turn on links from Dreamwidth to the crossposts. To do so you'll need to go to the "Other Sites" tab of your Settings, click on "Change" on the site you want linked to, and turn on the checkbox for "Display cross post links".

I don't know why it's buried so deep, but there you go.

Looks like it only affects posts made after changing the setting. I'm not sure if there's a way to go back and retroactively add it to everything else.