4 ms·

Wow. This post is a revelation for me. I have frequently explained to people that have bothered to ask (and probably a few who didn't) that the reason I love pr

Wow. This post is a revelation for me. I have frequently explained to people that have bothered to ask (and probably a few who didn't) that the reason I love programming has a lot to do with my love of language - the elegant syntax, the rules and their exceptions. Despite rigorous math training (I'm an electrical engineering student), until now I had never been able to see it as more than a means to an end. I hated math classes so much, but they allowed me to do interesting things with electricity so I put up with them. On occasion, I have maybe been struck by a part of what this person is referring to, but this puts it together in a way that I had never really understood before. Thanks.

kenjackson 16y ago
I'm the opposite, I love programming, but dislike languages. I can recall in junior high wondering why these certain rules existed. "This is simply more verbose and doesn't disambiguate anything as far as I can tell." The problem I encountered with natural languages is I rarely could get an answer as to why we have a form for this word. Whereas with programming, I can usually get an answer for almost any question I have about a language.
- fooandbarify 16y ago
  Yes. The analogy only goes so far - natural languages are inherently more complex than any programming language I know of for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, it's just as easy to find examples of code which are "simply more verbose" and that do not "disambiguate anything" as it is to find examples of the same in natural language - conciseness and clarity are valuable everywhere.
- nollidge 16y ago
  Natural language is evolved (and therefore haphazard and merely "good enough"), whereas programming languages are designed. Natural languages are to programming what biology is to robotics.
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    Agreed. In fact its funny you make that analogy... in that whenever I think about doing some biology I want to use nanotechnology. My brain just has more trouble settling into emergent systems.

kenjackson 16y ago

I'm the opposite, I love programming, but dislike languages. I can recall in junior high wondering why these certain rules existed. "This is simply more verbose and doesn't disambiguate anything as far as I can tell." The problem I encountered with natural languages is I rarely could get an answer as to why we have a form for this word. Whereas with programming, I can usually get an answer for almost any question I have about a language.

fooandbarify 16y ago
Yes. The analogy only goes so far - natural languages are inherently more complex than any programming language I know of for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, it's just as easy to find examples of code which are "simply more verbose" and that do not "disambiguate anything" as it is to find examples of the same in natural language - conciseness and clarity are valuable everywhere.
nollidge 16y ago
Natural language is evolved (and therefore haphazard and merely "good enough"), whereas programming languages are designed. Natural languages are to programming what biology is to robotics.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Agreed. In fact its funny you make that analogy... in that whenever I think about doing some biology I want to use nanotechnology. My brain just has more trouble settling into emergent systems.