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I attribute much of my expertise at software development to learning languages at school. Translating a piece of text from one language to another consists of

by kitd 12y ago

I attribute much of my expertise at software development to learning languages at school. Translating a piece of text from one language to another consists of abstracting the core ideas and meaning from the text using the first language and reimplementing them in a natural way in the second. This is a very similar mental process to taking real-world concepts and reimplementing them in software. Among the languages I learnt was Latin, which is a very "elegant" language. Ie, it conveys much meaning in few words. Being able to do the same in software still gives me a buzz after 25 years.

melling 12y ago
Honestly, I'm not sure computer programming is even remotely related to language learning. If it were we would probably see more evidence. Anyway, I taught myself how to program while I was in high school, a few decades ago. Learning Spanish probably took me a decade and I never really got it until I immersed myself by studying in Guatemala for 10 weeks then backpacking to Argentina over the next several months. Actually, I considered myself good by Colombia. People didn't respond in English and I didn't have to repeat myself.
- RevRal 12y ago
  All human languages consist of syntax and phonetics. Programming languages act as an intermediary between human intelligence and machine intelligence. We almost always require the language aspect of programming to communicate with computer hardware. It is a link for compiling syntax between both the human mind and the computer mind. We need a common means to compile information, just like communicating ideas between people. Programming languages are exactly the same thing as traditional spoken language. I'll argue that to parse any language requires a specific cognitive skill. Ever sentence diagram, look up a word in the dictionary, or look up what specific programming "words" do in a computer?
walterbell 12y ago
Perl & linguistics, http://world.std.com/~swmcd/steven/perl/linguistics.html http://world.std.com/~swmcd/steven/perl/linguistics.html
memracom 12y ago
I feel the same about Latin's elegance which I learned in the 70s in high school. More recently I have mastered Russian and find the same kind of elegance and ability to convey a lot in a few words. There are all kinds of two word and four word sentences used by Russian people as a kind of poetic shorthand about life's situations. And Russians, young and old, men and women, professional and blue-collar, have a love of great poetry and lyrics. They will often write their own and share with others as a toast, or just an impromptu performance at a party. I recommend learning Russian, which is much easier than English to learn, partly because its grammar is a lot simpler than Latin (or Romance languages) while at the same time having a much more regular vocabulary than English. I think one reason why the authors chose language learning as an example is that mastering a language, even part way, is a long term commitment over many years, and that it is the frequent and long term effort that has the effect on the brain.

by kitd 12y ago

melling 12y ago

Honestly, I'm not sure computer programming is even remotely related to language learning. If it were we would probably see more evidence. Anyway, I taught myself how to program while I was in high school, a few decades ago. Learning Spanish probably took me a decade and I never really got it until I immersed myself by studying in Guatemala for 10 weeks then backpacking to Argentina over the next several months. Actually, I considered myself good by Colombia. People didn't respond in English and I didn't have to repeat myself.

RevRal 12y ago
All human languages consist of syntax and phonetics. Programming languages act as an intermediary between human intelligence and machine intelligence. We almost always require the language aspect of programming to communicate with computer hardware. It is a link for compiling syntax between both the human mind and the computer mind. We need a common means to compile information, just like communicating ideas between people. Programming languages are exactly the same thing as traditional spoken language. I'll argue that to parse any language requires a specific cognitive skill. Ever sentence diagram, look up a word in the dictionary, or look up what specific programming "words" do in a computer?

walterbell 12y ago

Perl & linguistics, http://world.std.com/~swmcd/steven/perl/linguistics.html http://world.std.com/~swmcd/steven/perl/linguistics.html

memracom 12y ago

I feel the same about Latin's elegance which I learned in the 70s in high school. More recently I have mastered Russian and find the same kind of elegance and ability to convey a lot in a few words. There are all kinds of two word and four word sentences used by Russian people as a kind of poetic shorthand about life's situations. And Russians, young and old, men and women, professional and blue-collar, have a love of great poetry and lyrics. They will often write their own and share with others as a toast, or just an impromptu performance at a party. I recommend learning Russian, which is much easier than English to learn, partly because its grammar is a lot simpler than Latin (or Romance languages) while at the same time having a much more regular vocabulary than English. I think one reason why the authors chose language learning as an example is that mastering a language, even part way, is a long term commitment over many years, and that it is the frequent and long term effort that has the effect on the brain.