From: billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu (William Thomas Wolfe, 2847 )
Subject: Re: Substitutions
Date: 15 Dec 89 20:44:54 GMT [thread overview]
Message-ID: <7466@hubcap.clemson.edu> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 8912141658.AA24393@fa.sei.cmu.edu
From Judy.Bamberger@sei.cmu.edu:
> -- A standard preprocessor would have the advantage of being standardized,
> -- but would suffer the disadvantage that compiler optimizations are not
> -- possible where the compiler has no knowledge of high-level semantics,
> -- which is a major reason not to simply codify the preprocessing practice.
>
% With a few substitions and a bit o' poetic license, the above could be
% rephrased as:
%
% A standard LANGUAGE would have the advantage of being standardized,
% but would suffer the disadvantage that APPLICATION-SPECIFIC
% IDIOMS are not possible where the LANGUAGE has no knowledge of
% APPLICATION-level semantics, which is a major reason not to simply
% codify the PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.
The analogy is fundamentally flawed; while the first passage notes
problems with one strategy and suggests another, the second states
in essence that since a standardized computer programming language
is more rigorous than a human language, computer programming languages
should not be standardized, which of course does not follow.
Perhaps the spiked eggnog is being passed around a bit too early...
Bill Wolfe, wtwolfe@hubcap.clemson.edu
prev parent reply other threads:[~1989-12-15 20:44 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1989-12-14 16:58 Holiday Cheer ?? Judy.Bamberger
1989-12-15 20:44 ` William Thomas Wolfe, 2847 [this message]
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