Yep, Programming Is Borked

This is why answer set programming has caught my eye: I describe my problem and the instance data and out come answers. Not quite what the author is talking about, of course, but very cool nonetheless.

Re: Yep, Programming Is Borked

#5

Post by DasIch » Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 7:55 PM UTC

Declarative constraint based programming in this fashion might be nice but that doesn't make the "traditional" way borked.

Furthermore I think the author dismisses the performance problem too easily. The code examples don't give any indication of the algorithmic complexity. I suppose I could determine it, possibly quite easily, if I understood how the compiler works but why would I want to know that?

I expect that this abstraction will make debugging performance problems a nightmare or it will leak the information. I will have to change perspective from "what" to "how" quite frequently which would distract me from my real goal.

I hope to be proven wrong though, this does look interesting.

Re: Yep, Programming Is Borked

#6

Post by justindocanto » Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 8:00 PM UTC

"I’m almost 21, and I’ve been programming for over a decade now"

Re: Yep, Programming Is Borked

#7

Post by evincarofautumn » Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 8:07 PM UTC

justindocanto wrote: post #6

"I’m almost 21, and I’ve been programming for over a decade now"

What? It’s necessary context. I started programming early because it’s interesting. It has taken many years of hard work to get to where I am, to develop the skills and opinions I have. Don’t think I’m gloating, because there is nothing whatever to gloat about.

Re: Yep, Programming Is Borked

#8

Post by evincarofautumn » Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 8:17 PM UTC

DasIch wrote: post #5

Declarative constraint based programming in this fashion might be nice but that doesn't make the "traditional" way borked. Furthermore I think the author dismisses the performance problem too easily. The code examples don't give any indication of the algorithmic complexity. I suppose I could determine it, possibly quite easily, if I understood how the compiler works but why would I want to know that? I expect that th…

First, thanks for the honest critique. It really helps me improve. :)

I confess to linkbaiting a little with the title. Where we are now isn’t utterly broken, but the way we think about programming can always improve, and this is one direction I can envision improvement. Also, I wanted to tie it in to the article I was referencing.

Performance is obviously important, but it’s a large topic and I didn’t have strong enough examples on hand to make the point I want to make. I’ll definitely go into more detail on that point in a future article. The gist is that high-level languages don’t need to sacrifice performance if they are constructed in such a way that the program contains enough meaning for the compiler to intelligently optimise it, a property which existing languages tend to lack.

And if I may say so, I hope to prove you wrong too! ;)

Re: Yep, Programming Is Borked

#9

Post by Symmetry » Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 8:27 PM UTC

this is orthogonal to the issue of “declarative versus imperative”

Wait, you're saying that I could make an imperative results-oriented language as easily as a declarative one? Perhaps the author meant "is not identical to" rather than "orthogonal"?

Re: Yep, Programming Is Borked

#10

Post by appamatto » Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 8:46 PM UTC

This certainly would make homework easier.