TITLE: Sentences to Ponder
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: August 09, 2012  1:36 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
In
<A HREF="http://books.google.com/books/about/Why_Read.html?id=VnJ-zZ3WiAEC">
   Why Read?</A>,
Mark Edmundson writes:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
A language, Wittgenstein thought, is a way of life.  A new
language, whether we learn it from a historian, a poet, a
painter, or a composer of music, is potentially a new way
to live.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

Or from a programmer.

In computing, we sometimes speak of
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2011-08.html#e2011-08-18T15_52_11.htm">
   Perlis languages</A>,
after one of Alan Perlis's best-known epigrams: <EM>A language
that doesn't affect the way you think about programming is not
worth knowing</EM>.  A programming language can change how we
think about our craft.  I hope to change how my students think
about programming this fall, when I teach them an object-oriented
language.

But for those of us who spend our days and nights turning ideas
into programs, a way of thinking is akin to a way of life.
That is why the wider scope of Wittgenstein's assertion strikes
me as so appropriate for programmers.

Of course, I also think that programmers should follow Edmundson's
advice and learn new languages from historians, writers, and
artists.  Learning new ways to think and live isn't just for
humanities majors.

(By the way, I'm enjoying reading <EM>Why Read?</EM> so far.
I read Edmundson's
<A HREF="http://www.randomhouse.com/acmart/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375708541">
   Teacher</A>
many years ago and recommend it highly.)
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