> This doesn't sound like engineering.
It is precisely engineering. As opposed to pure science and art. (I consider mathematics to be, above all, art.)
Based on the post itself, you come with a theoretical mindset. You may consider purity to be more important than practical applications. Yet, if people write software to be used, they focus on the latter. Sometimes it results in hacky code even within an already hacky language. There are no extra points for purity.
Purity itself is a double-edged sword. Sometimes it makes the code more reliable. Other times - it generates a lot of abstract nonsense, which makes it harder to reason about the piece of software or change it.
On the positive side, look at the Rust language (and community!). While it has lovely abstractions and safety guarantees, it is a practical language - performant for writing and execution.