Readability and the Game of Understanding
March 21, 2013
“Does Readability Give a False Sense of Understandability?” Daniel Lyon’s doesn’t seem to think so. He’s skeptical about the claims that readability increases the chances that a language will attract a large audience.
Especially with source code because it can be misleading.
“There is no point in misleading readers who have trouble understanding J-like code into thinking they understand the compiler, because they don’t. A veneer of readability cannot change that…. Sometimes, perhaps it’s just as well that a language or a program not pretend to be more understandable than it really is. Maybe a barrier to entry is good, by keeping readers out until they are ready to wield the power it affords.”
Giving consumers a base understanding often works against them in the long run. You have to walk before you can run and none of us will ever be able to fly. Readability can give us a broad overview of what we’re looking at, but the intricacies will still take skill and study.
But in today’s go go go world, who has time for intricacies and study?
Leslie Radcliff, March 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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