Aug 27, 2003
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- Desiderata for computer languages
	- readability
	- writeability
	- efficiency, safety, reliability

- What improves readability?
	- simplicity
		- minimize #ops/basic units
			- e.g., think of APL
		- minimize #ways to do same thing
			- e.g., incrementing
		- minimize #meanings for something
			- e.g., * in C
	- maximize orthogonality
		- reduce exceptions
		- be able to put together
		  things independently
	- minimize side effects
		- e.g., X = read(); print X + X;
		  versus print read() + read();
	- reasonableness of words 
          to their intuitive meanings
	- good control structures
	- support for data abstraction
		- this last one also helps writeability

- The readability axis
	- machine code on one end, followed by
	- assembly language
	- Perl
	- C/C++
	- COBOL
	- NOWEB (literate programming)

- Efficiency/safety
	- good memory management
	- good type systems
		- check types and validate
	- prevent stupid programmers from succeeding!
		- e.g.: ZX Spectrum
	- exception handling

- Good example of a "safe" human language
	- Esperanto

- Other things to know about langauges
	- is it meant for a compiler/interpreter?
		- whats the difference?
		- notion of "times"
	- what type of architecture?
		- e.g., von Neumann gives 
		  rise to imperative languages
		- where do logic and functional		
		  motivate from?

- Self study
	- Chapter 1
	- Chapter 2