Re: Syntactic conventions

[Coda Highland <chighland@...>]

On Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 10:17 AM, Gavin Wraith <gavin@wra1th.plus.com> wrote:
> But I do not think human languages have much to offer programming
> languages, because their semantic structures are usually based on
> the physical circumstances of the speaker and the persons addressed.
> Objects are classified by whether they are animate or inanimate, male
> or female, close by the speaker, close by the persons addressed, or
> far away. Indeed, the whole point of programming languages (and
> mathematics) is to be free of the constraints that vernacular
> languages impose.

Programming languages have noun class systems too! Syntax and
inflection vary based on whether you're accessing a scalar, an array,
or an object. Some languages inflect more visibly than others (I'm
looking at you, Perl) but it's a universal truth of context-sensitive
grammars.

/s/ Adam