In English every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- English allows words to become verbs easily, unlike most programming languages.
- In plain terms
- We turn nouns into verbs in English, but not in code.
- What can you take from it?
- Design expressive languages that adapt to natural communication.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How readable is your code to non-programmers?
- What features make a language more natural?
Another view
Some languages like Python and Ruby do allow more flexible verbification.
More from Alan Perlis
In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word 'frustration'.
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