4 ms·

There was a Guy Steele talk a while ago on this topic. He also gives searchable names for some of the things (eg the ‘2d inference rule diagrams’). He calls it

There was a Guy Steele talk a while ago on this topic. He also gives searchable names for some of the things (eg the ‘2d inference rule diagrams’). He calls it ‘computer science metanotation’, though I think it’s more of a PLT thing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
carapace 3y ago
You beat me to it. > The most popular programming language in computer science has no compiler, interpreter, or complete specification. It is remarkably concise. It grew over decades; today, dozens of variations are in use. Its complexity has reached the point where it needs to be re-explained every time it is used—but too often it is not; instead, each variant is more or less taken for granted. This has led to ambiguities and inconsistencies. Much effort has been spent in hand-translating, in both directions, between this language and other languages that do have compilers, primarily for the purpose of implementing yet other languages. => https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Steele https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Steele Guy Steele => https://www.codemesh.io/codemesh2017/guy-l-steele https://www.codemesh.io/codemesh2017/guy-l-steele "A Cobbler's Child" talk at Code Mesh 2017 => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPlDnX6Mio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPlDnX6Mio "A Cobbler's Child" (video on youtube) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q "It's Time for a New Old Language" (video on youtube) => https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 Discussion on HN => https://labs.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=94065:40150:0::::P40150_PUBLICATION_ID:5376 https://labs.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=94065:40150:0::::P40150... Slides To me this seems like a pretty sorry state of affairs. The folks trying the hardest to speak precisely about the most precise human art use ambiguous and inconsistent notation. wat?
- nextaccountic 3y ago
  This is also the notation that is used in logic as well. The thing about it is that, while every paper can have a slightly different variant of this metalanguage, all texts are supposed to contain an introduction defining exactly what this means. That's because it's common that, if you are talking about a new logic, you will have new syntax as well, or a slightly different way to make inference
nextaccountic 3y ago
I can't find the slides in PDF, was it posted somewhere?
dang 3y ago
Discussed at the time: It's Time for a New Old Language – Guy Steele [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 - Oct 2017 (45 comments)
mattpallissard 3y ago
A hell of an intro from Rich Hickey of all people.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

carapace 3y ago

You beat me to it. > The most popular programming language in computer science has no compiler, interpreter, or complete specification. It is remarkably concise. It grew over decades; today, dozens of variations are in use. Its complexity has reached the point where it needs to be re-explained every time it is used—but too often it is not; instead, each variant is more or less taken for granted. This has led to ambiguities and inconsistencies. Much effort has been spent in hand-translating, in both directions, between this language and other languages that do have compilers, primarily for the purpose of implementing yet other languages. => https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Steele https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Steele Guy Steele => https://www.codemesh.io/codemesh2017/guy-l-steele https://www.codemesh.io/codemesh2017/guy-l-steele "A Cobbler's Child" talk at Code Mesh 2017 => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPlDnX6Mio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPlDnX6Mio "A Cobbler's Child" (video on youtube) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q "It's Time for a New Old Language" (video on youtube) => https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 Discussion on HN => https://labs.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=94065:40150:0::::P40150_PUBLICATION_ID:5376 https://labs.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=94065:40150:0::::P40150... Slides To me this seems like a pretty sorry state of affairs. The folks trying the hardest to speak precisely about the most precise human art use ambiguous and inconsistent notation. wat?

nextaccountic 3y ago
This is also the notation that is used in logic as well. The thing about it is that, while every paper can have a slightly different variant of this metalanguage, all texts are supposed to contain an introduction defining exactly what this means. That's because it's common that, if you are talking about a new logic, you will have new syntax as well, or a slightly different way to make inference

nextaccountic 3y ago

I can't find the slides in PDF, was it posted somewhere?

dang 3y ago

Discussed at the time: It's Time for a New Old Language – Guy Steele [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15473199 - Oct 2017 (45 comments)

mattpallissard 3y ago

A hell of an intro from Rich Hickey of all people.