Logical Nirvana – How Programming Languages and Our Thoughts Are Linked

A programming language can change the way you think about programming; this is true but not the whole truth. Most of us when we code we try to think about a problem and we try to figure out how to solve the problem in a programming language. I do not want reiterate the same example of how BASIC does not allow you to think about recursion blah, blah, blah; but what I want to point out here is that at the time of solving a problem we actually solve the problem in our mind first and then we start coding. At the time of coding we start thinking in a programming language not before that. If some problem can be solved by a human being it can be solved by a computer. It may be tedious to put the logic but it can be done. Like as we have programs which can play chess better than most of us. So this simply means we just map our logic, which we develop in our mind, to a programming language.

Now this mapping requires us to translate the problem in a computer language. Now for example if we need to do an operation which is very low level we can do it very easily. But if the operation is complex we need to do a lot of sub operations, so at the time of translating the logic to a computer action we need to give bridging of more fundamental statements.

Now how a programming language can help you in doing this mapping? Simple it will provide you operations which are close to your logical system. It might not match the exact logical unit that you have in your mind but it can significantly reduce the number of statements that you write in that programming language. So if a programming language allows you to do some job in 10 statements and another programming language allows you to do the same job in 3 statements then it is better to use the second programming language. Plain and simple! But this is not so simple in this world and that’s why we have programming languages which require at least 4 lines to print “Hello World!!!”, moreover those programming languages are so called *MARKET LEADERS*.

Now let us return to our discussion on programming language and thinking process. The problem of mapping get worse if you are working in a programming language which is vary far from your solution in your brain; then you have to start from your end (Top-down approach) or from the programming language end(bottom up) and bring these two things to a single point and then it should work. What we are trying here is building of higher order logic from existing logical system in the programming language. So end of the day we are doing nothing but mapping of two logical systems.

Here I feel that the greatest realization of every programmer is what we are trying, while programming is not only solving a problem but also understanding our logic; the logic which lies beneath our mind. So the question is if a programming language does not allow us to think beyond certain point should we continue with that or let our thought go to wildest of imaginations where the boundaries are endless with a programming language that has no limitations.

So let’s reach out for that logical nirvana.

Thanks for reading.