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NeantHumain
Phoenix
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Joined: Jun 25, 2004
Posts: 3851
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
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 Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:51 am Post subject: Are Some Programming Languages More Aspie than Others? |
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I've been thinking about how not even the information technology (IT) industry is immune from the fads that permeate the rest of NTness, so I've begun to wonder if some programming languages simply have it while others persist mostly as the result of hype. My theory is that two factors affect how aspie vs. how NT a given programming language is: technical and socio-cultural. It is quite possible that more aspie programming languages are preferred by aspies whereas more NT programming languages are popular with NTs.
Technical conditions likely make a given programming language more "aspie." I would say these programming languages emphasize characteristics we ourselves are known for: attention to detail, preference for the concrete over the abstract or metaphorical, and an inability to see the forest through the trees. The quintessential example is the various assembly languages; to use them effectively, a programmer must memorize scores of opcodes and processor registers; even displaying a line of text to the console requires lengthy code.
Technical considerations can also push a programming language towards the NT. Such programming languages would present functionality in layers of abstraction such as an object-oriented hierarchy of classes and series of polymorphic interfaces. A supplied library of Collection classes hides the lower-level details of how, for example, a binary search tree is implemented for efficiency. The user typically calls a series of methods and may be unaware of how many methods those methods call (contrast this with assembly). Java and C# embody this ethos well.
Socio-cultural conditions work on top of the technical considerations and may make a technically NT language very much aspie and vice versa. For example, Python is a high-level scripting language, but thanks to its deep association with free software and the Linux/hacking community (a very aspie group), it has significant aspie "street credit." On the other hand, a fussy, detail-oriented programming language like RPG may be more NT because they're still in use due to very NT business decision making. |
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curiouslittleboy
Deinonychus
Joined: Jun 07, 2007
Age: 20
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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*shrugs* I'm an aspie, but I couldn't hack/use Linux, though more the former, to save my life. :\
Could you make this post a bit better organized in terms of listing aspie like languages vs. NT styled ones?
Like making a list of ones that you think are one or the other, or better indicate which ones and their characteristics make them aspie/NT oriented? :\ |
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ouinon
chemical reaction
Joined: Jul 11, 2007
Posts: 3747
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know anything about programing languages but think this thread raises a very interesting question.
My interest is that "natural" language is increasingly understood to be like an organism which has evolved in direct response to its "host", the human brain, which means that language today is adapted to average/normal brains, and not to minority ones. Therefore the serious mismatch which exists between AS brains and language esp speech because it seems that use of language requires shutting down so many other functions in order to run it.
Sooo.. what I am wondering is whether certain programming languages might be more NT because they are most like "natural" language in terms of internal "laws"/structure/grammar, whereas the ones which suit AS thought processes ( if there is such a difference ), are the ones least like natural language? 
Has any study been done to measure degree of difference or similarity between the internal laws/structure/grammar of various programming languages and "natural" language?
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Dwight_K_Schrute
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Mar 09, 2008
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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It's an interesting line of thought. I'd like to see a list of languages and how you classify them and why.
A few counterpoints:
1. AL was created as the first way to interact with a computer above machine language. This had nothing to do with aspie or NT. At the time AL was created, there was not speed or memory enough to use higher level languages. That's was the whole point of AL, to write the smallest and fastest programs as possible because computers were so slow and expensive, and access was limited in terms of both time at a terminal and time allowed in the CPU for your program to run.
2. In my opinion, the main point of things like the STL is not to hide low-level details, the point is to re-use code and not re-invent the wheel for every single program you write. Without the STL, a good programmer would write their own binary tree (your example) and then reuse their same tree implementation everytime they needed it. This is the same concept as using the STL, except that now everyone uses the same binary tree instead of 100,000 programmers each writing their own implementation that does the exact same thing, thus re-inventing the wheel that many times.
But, there is merit to some of the things you are saying.
_________________
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think 'would an idiot do that?' and if they would, I do not do that thing." |
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EvilTeach
Sea Gull
Joined: Mar 15, 2007
Age: 48
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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I think you are likely to see that Aspies have strong preferences for various programming languages,
but it is less an Aspy thing, and more of a what sorts of things do you have to do in your job.
I do think that you are likely to see Aspies have a stronger demand for a fixed style in their code
as consistency and clarity in code appearance lead toward less brain load when interpreting code.
A couple of style rules I try to follow for c style languages include
each control structure has a brace body.
every if has an else
ThisIsADataType
this_is_a_function
thisIsAVariable, so that the capitalization rules speak to me as to what it really is....
Everyone is different, and use whatever techniques are needed to cope with their environment. |
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pakled
"Bless his Heart"
Joined: Nov 13, 2007
Age: 51
Posts: 3978
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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I actually have a degree in (mainframe) computer programming; but all it taught me was that I'd never make a good programmer...
I actually found assembler to be easier that people let on, though we didn't go very far with it.
Cobol (Completely Obnoxious and Boring Obsolete Language..') had me in fits. Of course, it was Cobol '74, so hopefully they've cleaned it up some since then. The programming language is as old as I am (written/birthed in '57..
RPG was either a Soviet weapon or a programming language...or both.. Imagine a language formed by filling out forms. I did find out that putting a check box in the wrong column would cause 1 line per page instead of 60...
C I tried, but got lost about the time they wanted us to do math only using 'ands' and 'ors'.
Basic wasn't too bad, I could follow that in my head. Never went very far with that, either.
I did get fairly good with Lotus 123 macros, but that's as close to programming as I've done in almost 20 years. Did take a Linux course; it was like batch files, only sideways...
To be honest, nowadays I'd just as soon take a tool and create things. I'm working on learning Flash, which is about as programming as I get nowadays.
Other people may have different ideas. |
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