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One possibility: the non-programmer is more open to designing a language that is more than just text. Programming in plain text (in a monospace font) hasn't ch

One possibility: the non-programmer is more open to designing a language that is more than just text. Programming in plain text (in a monospace font) hasn't changed for decades. It doesn't look like it will change for the foreseeable future either. This isn't because plain text is inherently superior. We're still relying on clumsy, cryptic syntax determined by the limited characters available on a keyboard. The simplicity of text is very appealing to developers. But arguably, it's modern IDEs that make dealing with plain text tolerable - without them, the simplicity of text would rapidly lose its shine. And modern IDEs are enormous in their complexity and millions of lines of code. So new programming ideas may come from unexpected quarters. And maybe less likely from developers conditioned by existing languages and tools.

mettamage 5y ago
A programming language is rarely only about the language. Culture, tooling, standard library, testing practices, 3rd party libraries and other things carry significant weight. I find it a stretch to claim that we are dealing with a monospaced text. As you mentioned, it is more than that. The text we deal with is at least: monospaced linted color-coded hypertext. Basically in hand-wavy terms: the more self-aware the text is, the better.
unsigner 5y ago
Plain text is inherently superior for collaboration (versioning, diffing, merging, blame etc.), maturity of tools (I'm thinking Sublime/vi here, not IDEs), and interoperatbility with other tools (e.g. how easy it is to generate/consume).
- timbit42 5y ago
  Maturity and interoperability of tools isn't a valid excuse. New tools will be written and they will mature.
Calavar 5y ago
IMO, you have that backwards. We have lots of tools for plain text languages because it's easier to write tools for a language when it's plain text. Plain text is a blessing, not a curse.

mettamage 5y ago

A programming language is rarely only about the language. Culture, tooling, standard library, testing practices, 3rd party libraries and other things carry significant weight. I find it a stretch to claim that we are dealing with a monospaced text. As you mentioned, it is more than that. The text we deal with is at least: monospaced linted color-coded hypertext. Basically in hand-wavy terms: the more self-aware the text is, the better.

unsigner 5y ago

Plain text is inherently superior for collaboration (versioning, diffing, merging, blame etc.), maturity of tools (I'm thinking Sublime/vi here, not IDEs), and interoperatbility with other tools (e.g. how easy it is to generate/consume).

timbit42 5y ago
Maturity and interoperability of tools isn't a valid excuse. New tools will be written and they will mature.

Calavar 5y ago

IMO, you have that backwards. We have lots of tools for plain text languages because it's easier to write tools for a language when it's plain text. Plain text is a blessing, not a curse.