Newsgroups: | comp.compilers |
From: | henry@zoo.toronto.edu |
Date: | Wed, 20 Jun 90 04:07:52 GMT |
Organization: | Compilers Central |
Keywords: | optimize, code, design, debug |
>I don't want the language to protect me from myself -- after all, I'm a
>super-programmer and always write perfect code!:-) I need a fascist language
>to protect me from all the other bozos (past, present and future) my boss or
>client might hire to work on the code I am currently dealing with... It only
>takes one creative anarchist to screw up an application forever...
There will never be a programming language, or a compiler, that can protect
you from incompetent or amateur programmers. There is *no*, repeat *no*,
substitute for competence and professionalism, although bureaucrats (who
sometimes masquerade as language designers) keep complicating life by
futilely trying to invent one.
The one thing a fascist language really *can* accomplish is to protect
you from your own mistakes. That is indeed valuable; the trick is to
balance protection with utility, so you get a reasonably-safe tool, not
a completely-safe playpen.
Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
henry@zoo.toronto.edu uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry
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