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Yes, this proposal is basically AppleScript. AppleScript is (relatively) easy for non-programmers to read and understand, because it is built on natural langua
by jacobolus 8y ago
Yes, this proposal is basically AppleScript.
AppleScript is (relatively) easy for non-programmers to read and understand, because it is built on natural language.
Unfortunately AppleScript is a huge pain to write, because as a programming language it is still quite strict about what type of syntax it will accept. It also is fairly limited, because speccing a natural language programming vocabulary/grammar gets increasingly difficult as you start adding features.
As a result even the best AppleScript programs are not concise at all, with limited use of abstraction. Most AppleScript programs are cobbled together by copy/pasting code found on the internet, and are full of bugs.
- MauranKilom 8y agoIn my experience, the problem people have with learning programming is not syntax or abstraction - it's thinking like the abstract machine. Or in other words, understanding that having an array and a loop in your code isn't enough to make the computer understand and do what you want. Basically, the thing that the PB&J exact instructions challenge teaches.
- fouc 8y agoIt's interesting you mention an array and a loop, because those can be separate abstractions too. no need to think about loops: array.each {|x| puts x} need think about loops: for i in 0...array.length do puts array[i] end
- kbp 8y agoThe first example saves you from thinking about indexing; arrays and loops are relevant in both.