From ... Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed1.bredband.com!bredband!uio.no!Norway.EU.net!not-for-mail From: Erik Naggum Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Subject: Re: Question on using Scheme on Large Projects Date: 16 Aug 2002 17:29:05 +0000 Organization: Naggum Software, Oslo, Norway Lines: 23 Message-ID: <3238507745602043@naggum.no> References: <1ffxhl8.1x64ct5k3bcmrN%michael@bcect.com> <1ffxvd9.rtqwx11yv35evN%michael@bcect.com> <8765z2cd98.fsf@darkstar.cartan> <0why9bygf4s.fsf@elaine0.Stanford.EDU> <871y9pdidx.fsf@darkstar.cartan> <3d4210cf@news.sentex.net> <0whd6t81mjh.fsf@elaine0.Stanford.EDU> <87u1mkdjes.fsf@darkstar.cartan> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: oslo-nntp.eunet.no 1029518946 19819 193.71.199.50 (16 Aug 2002 17:29:06 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@KPNQwest.no NNTP-Posting-Date: 16 Aug 2002 17:29:06 GMT Mail-Copies-To: never User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.2 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.lisp:38116 * Matthias Blume | That's the problem with all semantics that are being specified in | English: they are inherently ambiguous. No, that is not the problem. If they were /inherently/ ambiguous, that would imply that the writer meant several things at the same time. Such is normally not the case with specifications, which are neither poetry nor puns. That only one things is meant is pretty darn obvious. Therefore, the ambiguity is found in the reader's intent to find it. What we cannot do, is write such that nobody, given enough energy, could not find that it could also mean something other than what you intended. Some people on news make this a sport, thinking that it shows their intellectual prowess to first find the intended meaning and then hunt for a second meaning that would be idiotic to hold, in order to pretend that this is the writer's fault. Be advised that you are up against one such semantic game artist. -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.