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C00002 00002	%englis[s90,jmc]		Programming a computer in English
C00003 00003		The idea of programming a computer in natural language
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%englis[s90,jmc]		Programming a computer in English


	Of course, it is possible to make a computer that can be
programmed in English.  Cobol, started around 1960 in response to
an initiative by the Defense Department, is a partial response to
this goal.  The result is like a tank controlled by reins and
spurs.

	1. Natural languages
	The idea of programming a computer in natural language
has some attractions and also some bad aspects.
Here are some relevant considerations.

1. Humanity invented mathematical notations in order to improve
on natural language for the communication of mathematical ideas.
Rewriting even a simple algebraic equation in natural language
without mathematical notation gives something much harder to
understand.  Many programming features are better expressed
in the languages that have been devised for this purpose than
in natural language even when the goal is communication among
people.

2. Some aspects of procedures are very much more conveniently expressed
in natural language than in any programming language so far
devised when the object is communication among people.

3. If we want these advantages in our programming languages,
we have to think carefully about what aspects of a procedure
are better expressed in natural language and figure out
out to express them formally.

4. What make natural language powerful is not its syntax
and programming languages that imitate natural language
syntax are not been especially powerful.

	Here are some features of natural language communication
of procedures that we might like to get in our programming
languages.

	1. People have common sense.

	2. Reference to the past.

	3. Speech acts.