What percent of "being a good programmer" is due to expertise in the syntax of a language(s)? Could you have mastered syntax and still be a bad programmer; or, conversely, be a great programmer with only a fundamental handle on syntax?
Last Updated: 22.06.2025 05:03
This question appears to be about five years old.
Many years ago, my wife designed a language called MUPL - “Mary’s Universal Programming Language.”
MUPL allows you to mix actual statements in the programming language you’re going to write in, sequel statements, and vaguely English sentences explaining what the algorithm is going to be when when you get around to writing it.
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Over the last five years, knowledge of the syntax has actually become a lot less important, firstly because the tools used by programmers have got better at sorting that sort of thing out, But also because writing a lot of the boiler plate code is now done by AI assistants rather than by hand.
So virtually all the thinking is about algorithms and object structures.
Modern IDEs like Cursor can actually transpire MUPL to code in a lot of cases.
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