Post #1541258
2025-11-15 11:14 UTC
In programming we tend to think of high-level languages like Python or JavaScript as being "easier" than low-level languages like C, and that's true, but it's not because they are closer to English
It's because they eliminate (or otherwise smooth over) more ambiguities at the syntax level, instead of allowing the programmer to write ambiguous or erroneous code but then have to deal with the resultant errors at runtime
Replies (1)
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@nicklockwood@mastodon.social 2025-11-15 11:14
You could be forgiven for thinking that English is the ultimate high-level language, but in many ways it's more like a *low-level* language because it doesn't impose any structure to guide you, and provides infinite ways to make mistakes or miscommunicate your intentions *Everything* in English is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Almost no errors or ambiguities are prevented by the "syntax", and so they must be dealt with by the "interpreter" (which traditionally has always been a human)