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Exactly, a formal specification language (including any programming language) requires you to make all your the implicit, underlying assumptions explicit. Nothi
by kyllo 12y ago
Exactly, a formal specification language (including any programming language) requires you to make all your the implicit, underlying assumptions explicit. Nothing can be taken for granted and there is no "you know what I mean." But once you really do know exactly what you mean, it's usually not so hard to specify it. Figuring out what you want is the hardest part.
- Tyr42 12y agoWell, sometimes we get things like C++11's `auto`, which do let you trade formality for brevity. It's helpful sometimes, but can cause misunderstandings, just like natural language pronouns.
- JabavuAdams 12y agoWhy should you have to specify assumptions that don't matter? I.e. it can be very productive to do the reasonable thing, until it's proven unreasonable.