Autocoding project proposal.

[David Masterson]

>>>>> Timothy Rue writes:

> On 26-Jan-02 22:17:24 David Masterson <dmaster at synopsys.com> wrote:

>> I agree with what you said.  However, there is one issue that you
>> overlooked.  People *LIKE* the language that they use or they wouldn't
>> use it.

[...they'll change to using a new language that they like...]

>> ............................... (or are forced to like) better.

> Perhaps you should clairify the meaning that you have attached to
> the word "like" or is that one of the words not yet quite in the
> computer industry double speak dictionary?

Nothing special about it.  I use English because I've been trained how
to speak it from very young, it fits my environment, and I *like*
using it.  Now, if my environment suddenly changed to all Japanese,
then I might not like only being able to speak English anymore and,
therefore, seek to change my language.  Those three things (training,
environment, and like) go into everyone's decision of the language
they use.

The same applies to programming languages.  Each language has roughly
equal expressive power in the sense of the applications that they can
be used to develop (give or take).  Some people would claim that some
languages (say, assembler) are much more difficult than others (say,
SQL), but that has been mostly a religious discussion (ie. it involves
zealotry) in which you can (almost) always find people who believe the
reverse is true.  Again, it depends upon the training, environment,
and "like" of the individuals involved.

Therefore, you'll only get people to use a new language if:

* you train them on your new language
* you clearly demonstrate how it fits their environment
* and they decide there is something in the language they "like"

The last one is a key issue.  Many programming languages have died (or
are dieing) because users have lost their reason for liking the
language (perhaps in favor of some other language).  The reasons for
this "like" are many fold and generally user specific (ie. they're
difficult or impossible to quantify) although "usefulness" is usually
a key component.

These are the things you'll need to take into account in developing a
new language (or get others to help you develop it).

-- 
David Masterson                dmaster AT synopsys DOT com
Sr. R&D Engineer               Synopsys, Inc.
Software Engineering           Sunnyvale, CA