What are the programmers' opinions about Plain English Programming?
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What are the programmers' opinions about Plain English Programming? Plain English Programming is useful? If not, why Plain English Programming is not useful? Reference: www.osmosian.com Moderators, if this place is not the correct place for this topic, please move this topic.
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What are the programmers' opinions about Plain English Programming? Plain English Programming is useful? If not, why Plain English Programming is not useful? Reference: www.osmosian.com Moderators, if this place is not the correct place for this topic, please move this topic.
Quantum Robin wrote:
Reference: www.osmosian.com
Wasn't the owner of this shunned here many years ago?
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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What are the programmers' opinions about Plain English Programming? Plain English Programming is useful? If not, why Plain English Programming is not useful? Reference: www.osmosian.com Moderators, if this place is not the correct place for this topic, please move this topic.
Computer languages encapsulate precise physical concepts, english language encapsulates wide range communication. It is never the language describing a problem that is the issue it is describing the process in terms of a physical concept the CPU can execute as code blocks. For perspective you could write a book claiming all you need is a screwdriver, spanner and hammer as tools and you can fix anything. Whilst you can probably tackle a vast range of repairs there are jobs that require highly specialized tools that you simply couldn't do. Plain English Programming falls into the same fallacy you conceive situations it might work but you have to close your eyes to the situations it clearly won't. I suspect the only way to really go after a real concept of english language programming would be via AI and if you went that path specific jargon would be less verbose, clearer and not prone to stupid English language nuances. Take any scientific field the first thing we generally have to do is butcher English into a series of defined jargon and acronyms so we can all agree on what is being said. Read any science journal or book and it isn't english a layman would recognize you need to know what all the jargon and acronyms mean. So I put the chances of any serious programming in english language at close to zero because we can't even do it with science.
In vino veritas
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Computer languages encapsulate precise physical concepts, english language encapsulates wide range communication. It is never the language describing a problem that is the issue it is describing the process in terms of a physical concept the CPU can execute as code blocks. For perspective you could write a book claiming all you need is a screwdriver, spanner and hammer as tools and you can fix anything. Whilst you can probably tackle a vast range of repairs there are jobs that require highly specialized tools that you simply couldn't do. Plain English Programming falls into the same fallacy you conceive situations it might work but you have to close your eyes to the situations it clearly won't. I suspect the only way to really go after a real concept of english language programming would be via AI and if you went that path specific jargon would be less verbose, clearer and not prone to stupid English language nuances. Take any scientific field the first thing we generally have to do is butcher English into a series of defined jargon and acronyms so we can all agree on what is being said. Read any science journal or book and it isn't english a layman would recognize you need to know what all the jargon and acronyms mean. So I put the chances of any serious programming in english language at close to zero because we can't even do it with science.
In vino veritas
On top of everything leon already said, natural languages are too ambiguous to be used as a computer language. The exact meaning of everything you say depends on the context as much as who you're talking to, and often can only be interpreted correctly when also analyzing your gestures and mimics. A simple wink in the context of some statement could mean a world of a difference. This is the main reason why we misunderstand each other so often in written communication. Given that high chance of misunderstanding, I'd rather not use a software system that is prone to doing something entirely different than what I intended. If I tell it to "Go to hell" I do not want it to query TomTom for directions. And if I tell it to "Let's eat grandpa!", I better not forget that all-important comma: "Let's eat, grandpa!" ;)
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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What are the programmers' opinions about Plain English Programming? Plain English Programming is useful? If not, why Plain English Programming is not useful? Reference: www.osmosian.com Moderators, if this place is not the correct place for this topic, please move this topic.
It's been done. It's called COBOL.