alt Hacker News> Programming languages are natural and ambiguous too
Programming languages work because they are artificial (small, constrained, often based on algebraic and arithmetic expressions, boolean logic, etc.) and have generally well-defined semantics. This is what enables reliable compilers and interpreters to be constructed.
Exactly. Programming is the art of removing ambiguity and making it formal. And it's why the timelines between getting an EXACT plan of what I need to implement vs hazy requirements are so out of whack.