4 ms·

I wonder if he'd have a natural aptitude for programming languages also

threatofrain 5y ago
They should be related at least due to the association of both programming and language acquisition to general mental ability.
Ferrotin 5y ago
No, he wouldn’t. Programming languages have virtually no vocabulary, compared to natural languages. The differences between two programming languages aren’t the same kind of thing as the differences between two natural languages. Developers already pick up new programming languages easily, and talent there comes from being able to absorb its documentation rapidly. If we know he has a good memory and doesn’t forget stuff, that is generally an advantage, but the connection that it is a “language” is not the reason.
- Arwill 5y ago
  I agree, someone speaking multiple languages will not suddenly become good at programming. But there is a study that showed, that talent for languages matters more for programming skills than talent for mathematics.
  - Ferrotin 5y ago
    But all the best programmers are good at maths. Did that study do anything beyond intro programming materials? Did that study really show anything?
dismantlethesun 5y ago
My natural aptitude for reading programming languages has never helped me out speaking languages. After 20 years, I still only speak 3 words of French. Inability to pronounce or hear certain phonemes is a real phenomenon.
- frodetb 5y ago
  According to the input hypothesis of language acquisition, the ability to speak is a function of how much we've already heard/read/taken in, and understood. If you're someone who enjoys reading, and you find that parsing weird syntax comes easy to you, then you're all set for learning a language with something like the refold method[1]. You just gotta put in the possibly staggering amount of hours that it takes. [1] https://www.refold.la https://www.refold.la
bayesian_horse 5y ago
For me I'm modestly good at both.
jjtheblunt 5y ago
i wondered the same, and then thought programming languages and their ecosystems go through different evolutionary pressures than natural language. and then i realized i still have no intuition as to the answer. just it's a great question. glad you wrote it down.
kzrdude 5y ago
Programming languages are nothing like natural languages
- huachimingo 5y ago
  If I had a penny for every esperanto speaker who also does software....
  - overkalix 5y ago
    ... you'd have at most 2000 dollars?
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      The "if I had a penny" family of expressions dates back to a time when the monetary value of pennies was greater than the burden of carrying them around.
- pcthrowaway 5y ago
  You think? There's syntax, grammar, and idioms. Of course there are significant differences, but there's significant overlap too. As someone not linguistically inclined, I also notice myself looking for the name of the built-in method of a programming language I've used for 5 years. One might imagine a person with a better memory for vocabulary would be more capable of remembering the word/method name without needing to look it up.
  - antattack 5y ago
    Once I learn how to write numbers - I'll be a mathematician? He might be making different sounds but the meaning is the same, with some culture specific exceptions. Programming is very little like communicating and it's a lot more like engineering.
    - layla5alive 5y ago
      Programming, done well, is almost all communicating...

They should be related at least due to the association of both programming and language acquisition to general mental ability.

Ferrotin 5y ago

No, he wouldn’t. Programming languages have virtually no vocabulary, compared to natural languages. The differences between two programming languages aren’t the same kind of thing as the differences between two natural languages. Developers already pick up new programming languages easily, and talent there comes from being able to absorb its documentation rapidly. If we know he has a good memory and doesn’t forget stuff, that is generally an advantage, but the connection that it is a “language” is not the reason.

Arwill 5y ago
I agree, someone speaking multiple languages will not suddenly become good at programming. But there is a study that showed, that talent for languages matters more for programming skills than talent for mathematics.
- Ferrotin 5y ago
  But all the best programmers are good at maths. Did that study do anything beyond intro programming materials? Did that study really show anything?

dismantlethesun 5y ago

My natural aptitude for reading programming languages has never helped me out speaking languages. After 20 years, I still only speak 3 words of French. Inability to pronounce or hear certain phonemes is a real phenomenon.

frodetb 5y ago
According to the input hypothesis of language acquisition, the ability to speak is a function of how much we've already heard/read/taken in, and understood. If you're someone who enjoys reading, and you find that parsing weird syntax comes easy to you, then you're all set for learning a language with something like the refold method[1]. You just gotta put in the possibly staggering amount of hours that it takes. [1] https://www.refold.la https://www.refold.la

bayesian_horse 5y ago

For me I'm modestly good at both.

jjtheblunt 5y ago

i wondered the same, and then thought programming languages and their ecosystems go through different evolutionary pressures than natural language. and then i realized i still have no intuition as to the answer. just it's a great question. glad you wrote it down.

kzrdude 5y ago

Programming languages are nothing like natural languages

huachimingo 5y ago
If I had a penny for every esperanto speaker who also does software....
- overkalix 5y ago
  ... you'd have at most 2000 dollars?
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    The "if I had a penny" family of expressions dates back to a time when the monetary value of pennies was greater than the burden of carrying them around.
pcthrowaway 5y ago
You think? There's syntax, grammar, and idioms. Of course there are significant differences, but there's significant overlap too. As someone not linguistically inclined, I also notice myself looking for the name of the built-in method of a programming language I've used for 5 years. One might imagine a person with a better memory for vocabulary would be more capable of remembering the word/method name without needing to look it up.
- antattack 5y ago
  Once I learn how to write numbers - I'll be a mathematician? He might be making different sounds but the meaning is the same, with some culture specific exceptions. Programming is very little like communicating and it's a lot more like engineering.
  - layla5alive 5y ago
    Programming, done well, is almost all communicating...