David Crocker wrote:
> Whilst I agree that the distinction between specification and
> programming languages is not completely clear cut, there is
> nevertheless a fundamental difference between specification
> and programming.
>
> In a programming language, you tell the computer what you want
> it to do, normally by way of sequential statements and loops.
> You do not tell the computer what you are trying to achieve.
[snip]
> In a specification language, you tell the computer what you are
> trying to achieve, not how to achieve it. This is typically done
> by expressing the desired relationship between the input state
> and the output state. The state itself is normally modelled at
> a higher level of abstraction than in programming (e.g. you
> wouldn't refer to a hash table, because that is implementation
> detail; you would refer to a set or mapping instead).
I'm sorry, but I don't quite see how this description sufficiently
delineates between declarative programming languages (such as
SQL, various logic and functional prog langs (Prolog, ML, Haskell,
Miranda, etc.)) from specification languages.
Do you consider them declarative programming languages and specification
languages one in the same? (Note: PLEASE, let's not turn this into a
discussion of language X is / is not a declarative programming
language, especially since the last time I used Prolog was in 1989
and the others I've only read about and/or wrote a few toy
programs. ;-)
My impression always has always been that a declarative programming
language is a high-level language that describes a problem rather
than defining a solution, but that pretty much sounds like your
definition of a specification language.
-kevin wall
---
Kevin W. Wall Qwest Information Technology, Inc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 614.215.4788
"The reason you have people breaking into your software all
over the place is because your software sucks..."
-- Former whitehouse cybersecurity advisor, Richard Clarke,
at eWeek Security Summit
