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Fooling the user of a programming language
Author(s) -
Plum Thomas
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.4380070210
Subject(s) - programming language , computer science , explication , simple (philosophy) , fifth generation programming language , second generation programming language , natural language , third generation programming language , programming paradigm , artificial intelligence , linguistics , philosophy , epistemology
Fooling the user' of a programming language by ‘natural’ constructions can cause completely unpredictable reliability defects in software systems. Numerous examples show the extent of the problem. Two methods of overcoming it are presented: simple languages devoid of user‐fooling powers, and explication languages to accompany the more powerful languages.