135 - Whither with 'with'? – new prospects for programming

Abstract

The role that dependency can play in developing programs is a longstanding topic of interest. The idea that spreadsheet principles are the key to new more accessible ways of programming continues to be a focus for current research. This paper further elaborates an idea whose development has been documented in several previous PPIG meetings: that programming can be best understood by construing human and automated agency in observational terms. Its main focus is on illustrating and discussing a new concept: a with-construct that has been introduced in a recently developed environment for making such construals (the ‘MCE’). Preliminary work indicates that introducing this concept has a transformative impact both on the practice of making construals and its relationship to conventional programming.

Authors

Nick Pope, Elizabeth Hudnott, Jonathan Foss, Meurig Beynon
University of Warwick, UK

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• Link to full paper in PPIG 2016 Conference proceedings to be supplied. Version for personal use.