Re: Functional Paradigm popularity and Maths (Was: XML as a transitionto s-expr)

["S. Alexander Jacobson" <address@hidden>]

On 20 Dec 2001 jmarshall@mak.com wrote:
> "David Simmons" <David.Simmons@smallscript.net> writes:
> > Certainly, the vast majority of people who write software in one
> > form or another do not have such a informal (let alone, formal)
> > foundation.  They do, by and large, have some form of domain
> > expertise which they are attempting to translate or express to a
> > computer through the medium of a computer language (the
> > man-machine-interface).
>
> Yes, and the vast majority of software written by such people is
> crap.

Yes, but the vast majority of software is written by such people!
There are 10:1 differences in productivity among various programmers.  It
may be that the very productive programmers understand the formal
foundations and formal techniques.  But:

1. the majority of programmers don't (or else the difference would be
smaller)

2. the majority of dollars paid to programmers go to those that don't
(because top programmers are rarely paid 10x lower level programmers)

3. the majority of dollars/time spent on buying/installing programming
tools is spent on these users because the licenses are per-seat not per
kLOC.

4. the majority of code is written by these programmers because even
highly productive programmers take a speed hit in absorbing domain
information on new projects.

> There is a prevailing myth that untrained programmers are at least as
> good if not better than programmers that have had years of training.
> In my experience, this is simply false.

It is false.  But it is also irrelevant.

-Alex-

___________________________________________________________________
S. Alexander Jacobson                   i2x Media
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