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Ask Slashdot: Why Are We Still Writing Text-Based Code?

Posted by timothy on from the because-there-are-only-so-many-lego-in-the-world dept.

First time accepted submitter Rasberry Jello writes "I consider myself someone who 'gets code,' but I'm not a programmer. I enjoy thinking through algorithms and writing basic scripts, but I get bogged down in more complex code. Maybe I lack patience, but really, why are we still writing text based code? Shouldn't there be a simpler, more robust way to translate an algorithm into something a computer can understand? One that's language agnostic and without all the cryptic jargon? It seems we're still only one layer of abstraction from assembly code. Why have graphical code generators that could seemingly open coding to the masses gone nowhere? At a minimum wouldn't that eliminate time dealing with syntax errors? OK Slashdot, stop my incessant questions and tell me what I'm missing." Of interest on this topic, a thoughtful look at some of the ways that visual programming is often talked about.

3 of 876 comments (clear)

  1. Sure thing by Tough+Love · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure, and similarly, laws should not be written down in legal language, they should be distributed in comic book form.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  2. Re:I think IBM is working on it by lgw · · Score: 5, Funny

    </b>

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  3. Re:It's been done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you have to understand the concepts anyways, why is text worse than a graphical set up? You can't really avoid learning syntax this way if you want to write anything actually complicated.

    Also, fuck beta.

    For that matter (and it really does matter), why is Slashdot still text based? I mean, my 2-year-old daughter enjoys looking at pictures on an iPad. So why not make Slashdot picutre based only, to open it up more to the masses (who often have the intellectual capacity of a 2-year-old anyway)? You could start by having 42% of visitors arbitrarily enter this new picture only mode which would have the second letter of the Greek alphabet (I love Greek!), and an embedded picutre that everyone associates with slashdot (some .cx domain or something). I'm blanking on the second step here, but I promise you, we will PROFIT!