Five Questions about Language Design
May 2001 (These are some notes I made for a panel discussion on programming language design at MIT on May 10, 2001.)1. Programming Languages Are for People.Programming languages are how people talk to computers. The computer would be just as happy speaking any language that was unambiguous.
- ▪May 2001 (These are some notes I made for a panel discussion on programming language design at MIT on May 10, 2001.)1.
- ▪Programming Languages Are for People.Programming languages are how people talk to computers.
- ▪The computer would be just as happy speaking any language that was unambiguous.
Paul Graham — Essays files mainly under blogs. We currently carry 219 of its stories.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
May 2001 (These are some notes I made for a panel discussion on programming language design at MIT on May 10, 2001.)1. Programming Languages Are for People.Programming languages are how people talk to computers. The computer would be just as happy speaking any language that was unambiguous. The reason we have high level languages is because people can't deal with machine language. The point of programming languages is to prevent our poor frail human brains from being overwhelmed by a mass of detail.Architects know that some kinds of design problems are more personal than others. One of the cleanest, most abstract design problems is designing bridges. There your job is largely a matter of spanning a given distance with the least material. The other end of the spectrum is designing chairs.
…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Paul Graham — Essays.