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Comment by sebastianconcpt | Hacker News Reader

In the articulate programming paradigm, a programmer undertakes a project by developing a domain-appropriate lexicon and phraseology which are leveraged directly to implement a solution that is readily accessible to domain experts and software experts alike. Articulate programming is nothing more, and nothing less, than using the right language and conceptual framework for the job.

I like what's being tried here. Many people like to be expressive and think while they talk. Is not unreasonable that they might want to program a system using the same social trait. Specially to get things done evading the hard dependency with programmers that have awful communication skills (close to toxic some times).

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You can find plenty of programmers with excellent communication skills; you might just need to look in other places or offer more money. People who possess multiple valuable skills often demand a higher wage than people who possess only one.

As for the language, the general idea of English-like programming is far from new. Here are a few arbitrary historical examples, the most impressive of which is Inform, a language for writing interactive fiction:

http://inform7.com/learn/eg/bronze/source.html

https://cukes.info/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperTalk

http://www.csis.ul.ie/cobol/examples/Conditn/IterIf.htm

None of these revolutionized programming. The hard part of programming isn't learning to read a specialized notation. The first hard part of programming is learning how to think in a logical, step-by-step fashion without omitting even the most intuitively obvious details. The second hard part of programming is learning how to maintain a large, complex program as requirements change. Neither of these is made much easier by writing in a rigid, artificial dialect of English.

> the general idea of English-like programming is far from new

Indeed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL

IMHO the hardest part of programming is identifying and fulfilling the ephemeral requests of users who aren't sure what they want until they see the thing they told you to build for them and realize it's not what they had in mind.

To be honest, even though the concept of English-like programming is commonly berated across various circles, I think the REBOL language might have had potential to prove otherwise. Sadly, like Plan 9, its long-term unwieldy licensing killed its momentum.

Specially to get things done evading the hard dependency with programmers that have awful communication skills (close to toxic some times).

All the good programmers I know can communicate fine.

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