0 sats \ 1 reply \ @orthzar 20 Jul 2023 \ parent \ on: RANT: Cryptography and Algorithm Papers Should Use Code, Not Math Notation tech
A coded example is more human-readable and can provide a nice overview, but it sacrifices fidelity (as you need to be very familiar with the language and functions to understand exactly what is going on under the hood).
The solution to that is to use a very well-specified programming language that hasn't changed for decades either because it's been abanonded or because it's specification simply hasn't changed (e.g. ANSI Common Lisp).
Of course, getting everyone to adopt a single programming language is a fool's errand. The best we can hope for is that one scientific journal will require that papers use one from an approved list.
write
preview
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @l0k18 OP 20 Jul 2023
Yeah, unfortunately the majority of programmers are only interested in what gets them the best pay for their idiot tolerance level.
Not what is actually the experience of decades of the OG language designers in their work coordinating teams.
I think Forth would be the best pick for precise, formal specifications. BASIC is another solid choice too. C and its descendants until Go are a mess of assumptions and complex syntax and frankly I HATE OOP. I also hate repeating myself. What the heck is a .h file for? The linker? Why can't the lexer generate that???? (oh yeah it does in most languages).
Oh yeah, just look at what languages they use in agricultural research simulators. When I was 11 I got to spend some weeks in the lab of such nature and was the first and only time I ever worked with Lisp and I sorta just dodged the Forth but that's what my supervising researcher worked with. I think that sorta sums up what defines a formally robust language.
SIMPLE.
reply