Automatic programming: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:50, 4 June 2006

Revision as of 08:33, 8 September 2006

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There has been little agreement on the precise definition of automatic programming, mostly because its meaning has changed over time. Programming languages such as [[Java programming language|Java]] and [[C]] do not seem very automatic today, but compared to programming in machine code, as was the only way circa 1958, they are very much automatic programming tools. According to researcher [[David Parnas]], automatic programming is merely a euphemism for [[high-level language]]s.

==Criticism==

Critics of the term say it is a contradiction in terms. To order a computer to program automatically would imply somehow specifying the program requirements in some form a computer can understand. The critics then say such a formal specification of requirements is in itself by definition programming.

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The above comes from a compsci professor of mine and it made a lot of sense to me. I don't have a published academic source on it, though. ~~~~

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