The blog post is full of hand-waving and the mindset that "if you think this you must be stupid".
I'm extremely wary of anyone promoting the next silver bullet for writing software. The Project COSA, http://www.rebelscience.org/Cosas/COSA.htm, that the author mentions sounds very complex, and I have no idea how using such a system would simplify writing code.
Louis Savain's "arguments", which he likes to claim "over people's heads", are mostly just examples of the Argument from Intimidation fallacy. Ie, "only an idiot would disagree with this". (Complete with overly complicated and inadequately labeled diagrams, to try to make you feel stupid, so that you'll more susceptible to this tactic.) I don't buy it for a second. I've built logic circuits. I've written assembly code. He hates computer languages because he's full of shit; there's no polite way to put it.
Greater parallelism in hardware is a fine goal. But it's madness to write programs for processors. If humans can't read it, then your program is crap. There are no exceptions.
We have these many processors. The task is not to make parallelism fit on a single chip. The task is to develop practices and languages that allow humans to write code for other humans, in such a way that programs also incidentally take advantage of the many (threaded, algorithmic) von Neuman machines that we have wired together in modern computers.
In just a few years, 8 or 16 (or more!) cores won't be a big deal. When you have 50 single-threaded cores, you have a different kind of computer than what we're used to today. We already have languages that take advantage of these features pretty well. They're not hugely popular yet, but they're also not being taught at universities, and we're not yet at a point where they're terribly necessary.
The COSA project is imaginary yak shaving of the worst sort. If he was half the hacker he claimed to be, he'd be writing programs instead of crackpot papers. Where is all the useful error-free software that COSA makes it so easy to create? Where's the web server he built with it, or the word processor? Hell, I'd be impressed with a 4-function calculator! Show me the goods, and I'll take it seriously. I'll even join the beta and play around with the stuff.
Until then, in my view, Savain is on par with the muttering bum at the bus stop.
Exactly - thanks - you saved me making virtually the same points. This guy really should make use of a dictionary and look up terms such as "Algorithm" - he might learn some stuff.
I'm extremely wary of anyone promoting the next silver bullet for writing software. The Project COSA, http://www.rebelscience.org/Cosas/COSA.htm, that the author mentions sounds very complex, and I have no idea how using such a system would simplify writing code.