wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM (08/10/90)
> I confess that I am (perhaps fatally) attracted to English-like Forth. > What other language allows you to create an application in less than 30 > seconds that lets a user step up to the keyboard and type: > > Total for burger fries and shake is <return> > > with the total immedately displayed? Forth is indeed remarkably good at implementing things like this. However, one of the problems with mimicing English is that it can mislead people into believing that the computer understands English, so the next time around they will type: Total for burger, fries, and shake is and the commas will screw things up. Or they will type: What is the total for burger etc Or How much does a burger cost? You can get into a never-ending cycle of adding little features. My experience suggests that if you make a computer language like another language, you better be prepared to eventually make it *exactly* like the other language, because once you set the precedent, people's expectations will drive you the rest of the way. Mitch