Re:Maintain It with Zig
by AnIdiotOnTheNet on Wednesday September 08, 2021 @05:59PM
(#28463576)
Eventually maybe only the same amount of time it takes the average programmer to understand your meaning.
So like months and years? On every project I’ve worked on, the programmers conception of the requirements evolves until the minute they stop working on it. And they only understand the part they worked on, not the whole thing
Re:Maintain It with Zig
by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday September 08, 2021 @07:48PM
(#28464460)
The discussion is not about understanding "requirements".
A piece of software is a set of instructions that tell a computer how to do something. We use languages like C, Python, Haskell and Lisp to describe what to do in ways that avoid as much ambiguity as possible.
The question is: if you used a natural (human) language, how much confusion would (a) the putative GPT-3000 (b) another programmer (c) a compiler/interpreter incur when trying to understand your instructions?
Re:Maintain It with Zig
by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday September 08, 2021 @07:50PM
(#28464476)
That might be true. But the comparison is not with another programmer. Rather, it's with the essentially instantaneous understanding that a compiler/interpreter has when you feed in a programming language.
GPT-3000 will have no problem understanding some interpretation of your English (or Spanish or Mandarin) "program", but will it be the right one? How long will it take to get GPT-3000 to understand what you mean when you can only talk to it in English (or Spanish or Mandarin) ?