Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Rod Pemberton" Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth Subject: Re: Forth for education Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:44:47 -0400 Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server Lines: 47 Message-ID: References: <44c39032-3adc-4e96-b91f-4374c93f5880@googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: CNsg4fVcCsvs3UaOgZtQCw.user.speranza.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org User-Agent: Opera Mail/12.16 (Linux) X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.forth:25859 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? Do you really think that similarity to English is a good reason to use Forth? English is full of ambiguities. Ambiguities in programming languages results in coding mistakes. Coding mistakes lead to financial and physical tragedies. Also, 75% of people are very verbal while the other 25% are visual. Those adept in mathematics and science, i.e., presumed to be more intelligent, tend to be more visual than those not adept. That means more symbolic or math like a language is, and the less like spoken or written language, the better it is for them. 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? Rod Pemberton