Tag Archives: thinking

Notation vs. Paradigm

Recently, I’ve been taken with the idea of programming languages as notation. When most people look at a programming language, they see syntax and possibly an underlying paradigm. I see the same, I just find the idea that each language also provides a unique notation for expressing ideas quite appealing. Lately, I’ve been thinking about… Read More »

A different view of programming languages

I’ve been thinking lately about the differences between programming languages. Over and over again, we see religious wars over what is the best programming language. Lately, we’ve also seen a lot of comparisons that look at particular classes of languages. Object-oriented vs. procedural Dynamic vs. static I have always had a kind of fascination with… Read More »

Paradigms Found

In my weblog entry Programmer Musings: Paradigms Lost from about five days ago, I talked about some of the negative effects of programming paradigms. That entry could give the impression that I don’t believe in new paradigms. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, I think the main benefit of new programming paradigms is… Read More »

Paradigms Lost

An earlier weblog entry, Programmer Musings: Paradigms limit possible solutions, spent some time on what paradigms do for programming. Now, I’d like to consider a slightly different take on programming paradigms. Why do programming paradigms seem to take on the force of religion for so many in the software field?

True Names

In some legends and in fantasy, there is the concept of a True Name. Once you know someone’s true name, you have power over them. To guard against problems with this most people would commonly use a use name that everyone actually uses to refer to them to keep their true name safe. In programming,… Read More »