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

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Date Tue, 3 Apr 2012 14:42:01 -0400
Subject Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT
From Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com>
To rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com>, python-list <python-list@python.org>
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>> > A carpenter uses his tools -- screwdriver, saw, planer --to do
>> > carpentry
>> > A programmer uses his tools to to programming -- one of which is
>> > called 'programming language'
>>
>> > Doing programming without programming languages is like using toenails
>> > to tighten screws
>>
>> I would argue that the computer is the tool, not the language.
>
> "Computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about
> telescopes" -- E W Dijkstra
>
> Here are some other attempted corrections of the misnomer "computer
> science":
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#Name_of_the_field

I view "computer science" as applied mathematics, when it deserves
that moniker.  When it doesn't, it is merely engineering.

Ironically, telescopes are a tool that astronomers use to view the stars.


On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 1:25 PM, rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> wrote:
> All this futuristic grandiloquence:
>
> On Apr 3, 10:17 pm, Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.r...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> The crux of my view is that programming languages exist in part
>> because computers in general are not smart enough to converse with
>> humans on their own level, so we have to talk to them like autistic 5
>> year-olds.  That was fine when we didn't have any other options, but
>> all the pieces exist now to let computers talk to us very close to our
>> own level, and represent information at the same way we do.  Projects
>> like IBM's Watson, Siri, Wolfram Alpha and Cyc demonstrate pretty
>> clearly to me that we are capable of taking the next step, and the
>> resurgence of the technology sector along with the shortage of
>> qualified developers indicates to me that we need to move now.
>
> needs to be juxtaposed with this antiquated view
>
>> I would argue that the computer is the tool, not the language.
>
>
> ... a view that could not be held by an educated person after the
> 1960s -- ie when it became amply clear to all that the essential and
> hard issues in CS are about software and not hardware

I'll go ahead and forgive the club handed fallacies, so we can have a
nice discussion of your primary point.  What a civil troll I am :)

Lets start with some analogies.  In cooking, chefs use recipes to
produce a meal; the recipe is not a tool.  In architecture, a builder
uses a blueprint to produce a building; the blueprint is not a tool.
In manufacturing, expensive machines use plans to produce physical
goods; the plans are not the tool.

You could say the compiler is a tool, or a development environment is
a tool.  The programming language is a mechanism for communication.

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Thread

Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-03-29 13:48 -0400
  Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-03-30 01:56 +0000
    Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-03-30 01:37 -0400
      Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2012-04-01 20:18 -0700
        Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 00:55 -0400
          Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2012-04-02 22:40 -0700
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 08:39 -0400
              Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 06:51 -0700
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-04-03 15:26 +0100
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-04-04 00:31 +1000
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2012-04-03 14:46 +0000
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-04-04 00:56 +1000
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-04-03 16:16 +0100
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Dave Angel <d@davea.name> - 2012-04-03 12:28 -0400
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2012-04-03 17:21 +0000
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2012-04-03 12:38 -0400
                RE: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Phil Runciman <philr@aspexconsulting.co.nz> - 2012-04-04 09:50 +1200
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 12:15 -0400
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 10:13 -0700
              Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-04-04 06:19 +0000
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Steve Howell <showell30@yahoo.com> - 2012-04-04 00:07 -0700
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 09:01 -0600
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-04-04 01:05 +1000
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2012-04-03 12:35 -0400
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 13:17 -0400
              Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 10:25 -0700
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 14:42 -0400
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 22:56 -0700
                Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-04-03 23:50 +0100
              Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-04-04 05:49 +0000
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2012-04-03 16:20 -0400
            Re: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Nathan Rice <nathan.alexander.rice@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 16:50 -0400
            RE: Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT Phil Runciman <philr@aspexconsulting.co.nz> - 2012-04-04 10:25 +1200

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