sorting pathnames by basename

Hewitt Tech hewitt_tech at attbi.com
Wed Aug 21 10:30:03 EDT 2002


The complexity of a computer language can result in the use of language
subsets. Specifically, if the language has too many features, programmers
will only learn a subset and since different programmers will learn
different subsets, it becomes difficult for language implementors to
guarantee that the language will be consistent across implementations.
Niklaus Wirth, the designer of Pascal, operated under the philosophy that
computer languages should be no more complicated than necessary. Later
iterations of Pascal such as Modula 2 and Oberon (and their variations) were
made succesively simpler in order to allow the programmer to accomplish his
programming goals while at the same time allowing those that needed to read
these programs to be able to clearly understand them (based on simplified
syntax and a smaller number of reserved words). The Oberon language grammer
fits nicely on a double sided 8x10 sheet of paper. The entire language
report only occupies around 20 pages.  See the language report at:
http://www.oberon.ethz.ch/oreport.html and take note of the quote from A.
Einstein ;^)

-Alex

P.S. Specific languages that have been described as too complex - PL/I, Ada,
C++...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Erik Price" <erikprice at mac.com>
To: <discuss at gnhlug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 1:32 AM
Subject: Re: sorting pathnames by basename


>
> On Tuesday, August 20, 2002, at 08:28  PM, bscott at ntisys.com wrote:
>
> >   All three mean the same thing, but the first is by far the most
> > common in
> > American English.  Perl is a lot like English.
>
> I couldn't agree more.  Here's why:
>
> English is supposedly the hardest language in the world to learn.  Why?
> Because there are so many ways to say the same thing!  Yes, that is the
> reason AFAIK.  I'm not just talking about synonyms, I'm talking about
> the way you can structure the grammar of the language to mean the same
> thing, but in so many ways.
>
> I studied Japanese for years when I was in college, almost
> double-majoring with it but not quite.  And I was struck by how
> systematic that language is.  Sure, a lot of people will naturally
> wonder if it's very hard, since there is a complex writing system based
> on Chinese that consists of tens of thousands of characters (the
> Kanji).  But as far as learning the core, the very grammar of the
> language itself, it is amazingly straightforward!  Although there is
> "more than one way to do it", this generally has more to do with slang
> and formality than with the way that the language is structured.
>
> Perl is definitely English-like in this regard.
>
>
>
>
>
> Erik
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Erik Price
>
> email: erikprice at mac.com
> jabber: erikprice at jabber.org
>
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>




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