Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:39:14 -0400, Nathan Rice wrote:

> Much like
> with the terminal to GUI transition, you will have people attacking
> declarative natural language programming as a stupid practice for noobs,
> and the end of computing (even though it will allow people with much
> less experience to be more productive than them).

I cry every time I consider GUI programming these days.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Apple released a product, Hypercard, 
that was a combination GUI framework and natural-ish language programming 
language. It was an astonishing hit with non-programmers, as it allowed 
people to easily move up from "point and click" programming to "real" 
programming as their skills improved.

Alas, it has been abandoned by Apple, and while a few of its intellectual 
successors still exit, it very niche. 

I *really* miss Hypercard. Not so much for the natural language syntax, 
as for the astonishingly simple and obvious GUI framework.

To get a flavour of the syntax, see OpenXION:

http://www.openxion.org

and for a hint of the framework, see Pythoncard:

http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net


> Ultimately, the answers to your questions exist in the world for you to
> see.  How does a surgeon describe a surgical procedure?  How does a chef
> describe a recipe?  How does a carpenter describe the process of
> building cabinets?  Aside from specific words, they all use natural
> language, and it works just fine.

No they don't. In general they don't use written language at all, but 
when they are forced to, they use a combination of drawings or 
illustrations plus a subset of natural language plus specialist jargon.

Programming languages include both specialist grammar and specialist 
semantics. That makes it a cant or an argot.



-- 
Steven