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I've seen the claim that "programming languages are just tools for telling computers what to do" quit often, and I think it really misses the mark to the detrim
by tikhonj 13y ago
I've seen the claim that "programming languages are just tools for telling computers what to do" quit often, and I think it really misses the mark to the detriment of whoever believes it.
Programming languages are "just" tools for expressing ideas. Ideas that a computer can then run. A programming language really is a language and it ultimately affects what you can easily say, how you say it and even how you think about problems. Put another way: semantics are important.
Of course, if you only know one language well and you believe it's just a way to direct your computer, you won't realize this.
- zachallaun 13y agoIt sounds like you missed the footnote: > This is not to say that all programming languages are equivalent, that they are equally good at all tasks, or that it isn't worth learning more than one programming language. Just that all good programmers have a deep understanding of at least one language.
- stass 13y agoNot just ideas, it's a way to express the computation formally in an abstract way. Being executable by a machine comes as a direct consequence of that. You are right that knowing several languages expand ones abilities to express computation as it brings new abstractions on the table.
- _random_ 13y agoIt's better to know multiple paradigms, learning multiple languages is just one of the ways of achieving this. I made my C# more functional just by reading about F#, Haskell etc.
- aimhb 13y agoIn pre-university school I would always wish that instead of trying to describe a complicated procedure/formula in words (and failing), that the teachers would just write a program. Code can be a very effective means of communication between humans as well.