“Computer science is not about computers”

Re:“Computer science is not about computers” by kn1ght on Sunday May 30, 2021 @03:31AM (#27331357)

Programming languages are not full linguistics, at least not yet. We focus primarily on syntax, semantics and pragmatics. All of this, though, is firmly rooted in mathematics, defining grammar as expressions and mathematical relationships. This then enables formal mathematical proofs where we can reason about outcome. I don't know if there exists such search that you mention, or it is more of an optimization of language features to problem space. Perhaps in a future where we're able to program our machines by having a conversation with them...

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Re:“Computer science is not about computers” by triska on Sunday May 30, 2021 @03:39AM (#27331392)

I once read an article suggesting that reading computer code does not activate the regions of the brain that are involved in language processing:

https://news.mit.edu/2020/brain-reading-computer-code-1215

This may indicate that the sampled programmers did not program in the way it can be done for example with declarative languages, i.e., primarily as a linguistic activity where we describe what we know about the task.

I also like the description in Programming as Theory Building by Peter Naur:

https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/Naur.pdf

The feasibility of this approach may depend on the programming languages one uses.

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Re:“Computer science is not about computers” by kn1ght on Sunday May 30, 2021 @03:57AM (#27331468)

Thanks for the articles. I definitely don't do it the same way I process language. To use the same example- I describe a task unambiguously, which makes it a translation from written text to memory regions or execution paths. It gets more concrete than just what I know about the task. A better parallel would be to writing mathematical formulas. When I process language, I believe, more of my brain is engaged in empathy, in trying to match context, in allowing ambiguity, storing ideas and concepts to be disambiguated at a later point.

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Re:“Computer science is not about computers” by xwolfi on Sunday May 30, 2021 @07:35AM (#27332501)

Yeah I remember that I started reaching my first CS successes once I knew enough of the mathematics and properties of the hardware to "think like a machine" and was trying to explain some of my peers still struggling how to do a more step by step execution in their mind.

In hindsight it's clear that you dont tell a story when you program a computer or not the way I'd describe my day or teach my kids about a phenomenon. It feels more like unrolling a tape and executing a receipe in the most simple way you can after you built a mind model of the machine. You mimic an actor maybe, rather than imagine an event ?

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Re:“Computer science is not about computers” by Peritract on Sunday May 30, 2021 @09:07AM (#27332966)

I have a very different experience; when I code, it feels similar to mapping out a conversation or constructing a narrative, and this is how I teach it to my students.

I've met people who view it as mathematics or philosophy or a bunch of other things; in the end, I think there is a wide range of valid mental models for how computers function and therefore how to communicate with them.

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Re:“Computer science is not about computers” by imtringued on Sunday May 30, 2021 @06:57AM (#27332288)

Did they compare identical information expressed as written language or programming language or did they compare messages that contain logic expressed via programming languages vs messages that don't contain logic expressed via written languages?

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