SUO: RE: Programming in English
Hi John,
. While what you say is true, It does not relate to what I was
suggesting for the SUO.
. Also, I believe your statements exaggerate the extent to
which a carefully thought out and appropriately restricted and modified
version of Standard English cannot be developed for programming, database
development and more generalised computer - human dialogue, etc.
. I feel you are quoting hyped up "press release"
overstatements to exaggerate up your position. Who would believe a newspaper
or other journal article with that sort of language anyway?
Cheers Graham Horn
National Data Standards Unit
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
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Phone: +61.2.6244.1094
Fax: +61.2.6244.1199
Email: Graham.Horn@aihw.gov.au <mailto:graham.horn@aihw.gov.au>
-----Original Message-----
From: John F. Sowa [mailto:sowa@bestweb.net]
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2001 11:44 AM
To: standard-upper-ontology@ieee.org
Cc: cg@cs.uah.edu
Subject: SUO: Programming in English
Although I believe that controlled English is a useful way to make
statements in logic more readable, I want to emphasize that it is not a
panacea. It will definitely not make it possible for nonprogrammers to
"write programs in English."
For some perspective on this point, I would like to cite an excerpt from a
recent issue of NewScientist:
"Now a new system that takes the drudgery - and some of the potential for
slip-ups -- out of programming is about to be launched. Its inventor hopes
it will one day turn us all into programmers. Bob Brennan, a software
engineer at Cambridge- based start-up Synapse Solutions, has developed a
piece of software that allows you to write a program by keying in what you
want it to do in everyday language."
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/tech/yourwish.jsp
That the above claims are every bit as believable as the claims in the
following excerpt, which was published in the February 1981 issue of
Personal Computer World:
"While the rest of the world has been developing a series of ever higher
level languages, two men in Somerset, David James and Scotty Bambury, have
quietly created a system which actually removes the need for program
coding.... The system not only produces bug free code but it also does it
jolly quickly - a matter of a few minutes once the design details have been
keyed in. Since it keeps a record of the program design, this can be
modified at any time and new programs generated on the spot. This means
that, for the first time in his life, the user can change his mind or modify
his system without it costing him an arm and a leg. For the first time, too,
ordinary people can implement their ideas on a computer without having to
worry about expensive `experts' or the rigours of learning to program.
Programmers on the other hand should find their jobs enriched, getting their
intellectual satisfaction from program design and avoiding the tedium of
coding and debugging."
Source: http://www.presshere.com/html/pw8102.htm
One can find similar press releases going back to the 1960s.
John Sowa