CoffeeScript: less typing, bad readability

Re:CoffeeScript: less typing, bad readability by bcoates on Monday September 17, 2012 @05:02PM (#4534878)

Mathematical notation is much harder to read than prose. It does a very good job of serving as a mnemonic for something you already understand, and a very poor job of explaining novel (to the reader) concepts.

It's also as bad as natural language for ambiguity and informality.

I don't think either English text or mathematical notation is a magic wand for readable programming language; It's more about reducing accidental ambiguity and the amount of mental context needed for parsing 'natural' constructs in the language.

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Re:CoffeeScript: less typing, bad readability by mmcnickle on Tuesday September 18, 2012 @07:36AM (#4537431)

Personally, most of the benefit I see from mathematical notation is down to pattern matching -- "Oh, this looks like a Fourier transform". The idea seems to be supported by the fact that there is a unwritten convention for which symbols to use for which concept (alpha over beta for example) and the way in which the equations are laid out.

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Re:CoffeeScript: less typing, bad readability by tjholowaychuk on Monday September 17, 2012 @07:25PM (#4535427)

this^

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