Dumbing Down Programming?

RunRevKev writes "The unveiling of Revolution 4.0 has sparked a debate on ZDNet about whether programming is being dumbed down. The new version of the software uses an English-syntax that requires 90 per cent less code than traditional languages. A descendant of Apple's Hypercard, Rev 4 is set to '...empower people who would never have attempted programming to create successful applications.' ZDNet reports that 'One might reasonably hope that this product inspires students in the appropriate way and gets them more interested in programming.'"

Comments

xkcd relevance

[A beautiful mind]

You'll never find a programming language that frees you from the burden of clarifying your ideas.

Re:A Natural Progression Yet So Many Caveats

[mwvdlee]

The simple truth is that many applications don't need that much performance or strange features and if a language like this enables more people to make their own custom apps, then I applaud it.

Some people will argue "job-security through obscurity", but if your job depends on other people not understanding what you do, it's bound to end sooner rather than later anyway.

I do wonder what the limits of this language are feature-wise. What type of applications could you NOT make with this language?

Re:A Natural Progression Yet So Many Caveats

[mustafap]

>the more human readable and dummy proof

Actually those two are exclusive, not inclusive.