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That description doesn't apply for most programs though. * Not all programmers can understand all programs * Most programs don't describe the problem exactly
by still_grokking 5y ago
That description doesn't apply for most programs though.
* Not all programmers can understand all programs
* Most programs don't describe the problem exactly
* Almost no program describes the desired outcome exactly
- jstanley 5y agoI think the point is that the implementation of the program exactly describes the behaviour of the program. If you take the program as a description of what the program is supposed to do, then what it is supposed to do is pretty unambiguous! (Also debatable, for example if correct operation of the program depends on some property of its environment that can't always be relied upon.)
- still_grokking 5y agoIt's trivial to say that a program describes its behavior exactly (so it's its own spec). But the whole point of a spec is to describe how a program should behave before writing it. Also you usually want some verification that the program matches the spec. When the program IS the spec what do you match?
- duped 5y agoIt's a joke - the point behind it is that most of programming around specs is refining the spec until it is sufficiently well defined as a program.
- still_grokking 5y agoIt's frankly only a kind of joke. People take it seriously, and you can hear it here and there as "argument" against proper specs.