Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!feeder.erje.net!eu.feeder.erje.net!newsfeed.fsmpi.rwth-aachen.de!news-1.dfn.de!news.dfn.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Paul E Bennett Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth Subject: Re: Forth for education Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 10:02:51 +0100 Organization: Hidecs Consultancy Lines: 58 Message-ID: References: <44c39032-3adc-4e96-b91f-4374c93f5880@googlegroups.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Trace: individual.net +CnevZJduIVHIRvDHnDUygLpEUmMZQKZMs4Ht31N9qIUJtwUfW Cancel-Lock: sha1:SRnGPiKy+2Z9V0LMaMNZ+mRTRpg= User-Agent: KNode/4.10.5 Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.forth:25876 Rod Pemberton wrote: > On Thu, 19 Sep 2013 20:17:15 -0400, wrote: > >> Meanwhile I learned that Forth is really good for education, >> because Forth is based on words and sentences, like human >> language is: >> > > Nearly identical statements to this comes up every few years. > Someone wants English as the basis of a programming language. > I don't understand why. What knowledge is this claim based > upon? It's clearly not based on computer science theory. > Is this intended for adults or children? I recall that it does but I have seen some Forth code in German that made sense to me even though I don't speak the language. You could, I suppose, have Forth in any human language if you wish. After all, it is suporting a symbology of sorts. [%X] > Spatial versus verbal ability goes towards the question: Who would > you want as a programmer for the processors used on the airplane > you flew on or bullet train you rode on? When our cars become > "smart" cars, who do you want to code the safety features? If the > car "intelligently" accelerates to avoid a mild collision but > introduces your car into a dangerous collision in progress, that's > not so good, is it? If your car "intelligently" slows to ensure > a police car can pull you over, or to allow an ambulance to pass, > it's not so good if the non-smart, 80000 pound semi-trailer plows > into you because of the slowdown, is it? So, do you want a guy of > average intellect writing that code? Or, would you rather have the > guy who can correctly solve calculus and physics problems without > help from friends, family, and teachers? Personally, I don't want > a dumb, or even average intellect guy coding code that's critical > to my personal safety. I want the smartest bunch of guys you can > get. Smart guys are capable of comprehending extremely complex > interactions that average guys will just never understand. But, it > usually takes more than one of them to foresee all outcomes. Do > you want your banking protected by code written by the company > with lowest bid? Having worked very closely with physicists for the past 12+ years there are some of those I would definitely not trust to write a programme of any real importance, and definitely not a safety critical one. I would rather have a very dilligent guy do the programming with another very dilligent guy doing the audit of what he has produced for anything that is safety critical. Whether the guys were smart or not does not enter into it. -- ******************************************************************** Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET..... Forth based HIDECS Consultancy............. Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972 Tel: +44 (0)1235-510979 Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk.. ********************************************************************