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From: reynolds@syd.dit.CSIRO.AU (Chris.Reynolds)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: (pssst...fortran?)
Summary: The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis again?
Message-ID: <1990Sep11.043926.26580@syd.dit.CSIRO.AU>
Date: 11 Sep 90 04:39:26 GMT
References: <9009081858.AA01770@world.std.com> <1990Sep10.193130.20463@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Sender: reynolds@syd.dit.csiro.au
Organization: CSIRO Division of Info Tech, Sydney, Australia
Lines: 33

If someone likes Fortran and wants to continue to use it, and the
software is available, why stop them.

The general problem has recently been discussed in more general
terms'in comp.society under the heading of the Sapir-Whorf 
hypothesis which effectively says "Languages shape the way we 
think and determine what we can think about."

As I see it different computer languages reflect the ethos of the
community which prefers to use them, and if we are to develop 
more useful systems in the future we must ensure languages and 
tools which reflect the ways in which different groups of users see
their own requirements.

Certain groups of languages, such as C, appeal to people who live in
"computer software" community, prolog is for those who see problems
in terms of formal logic, fortran has been successful in allowing
mathematicians and engineers to do bread and butter numerical
applications, while cobol's widespread use reflects its suitability for
large file applications as designed in a commercial environment.

All these languages have advantages and disadvantages - and one of
the problems is that most of the critisms come from people who are
wedded to a particular language - and this "determines what they
can think about" in a manner which means they cannot see the
other sides viewpoint. For instance, most academic critism of cobol
is by people who have never worked (and have no wish to work)
in the kind of environment for which cobol was designed.
-- 
From Chris Reynolds          (Currently visiting Australia from the UK)
CSIRO Division of Information Technology
                                  PO Box 1599, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia
email: reynolds@syd.dit.csiro.au