“Entropy and FatFinger: Challenging the Compulsiveness of Code with Programmatic Anti-Styles” by Temkin
Conference:
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Title:
- Entropy and FatFinger: Challenging the Compulsiveness of Code with Programmatic Anti-Styles
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Abstract:
Coding, the translating of human intent into logical steps, reinforces a compulsive way of thinking, as described in Joseph Weitzenbaum’s “Science and the Compulsive Programmer” (1976). Two projects by the author, Entropy (2010) and FatFinger (2017), challenge this by encouraging gestural approaches to code. In the Entropy programming language, data becomes slightly more approximate each time it is used, drifting from its original values, forcing programmers to be less precise. FatFinger, a Javascript dialect, allows the programmer to misspell code and interprets it as the closest runnable variation, strategically guessing at the programmer’s intent.
References:
J. Weizenbaum, Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation (London: WH Freeman & Co., 1976) pp. 111–131.
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Programmed Visions (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011) pp. 19–54.
reddit.com, “What’s Your Most Controversial Technical Opinion?,” posted 8 December 2017: <www.reddit.com/r /programming/comments/7i nq/whats_your_most_controversial_technical_opinion/> (accessed 10 January 2018).
Scott Reynolds, “Well Architected != Over-Architected”: <https://lostechies.com/scottreynolds/2009/10/01 /well-constructed-over-architected/>.
Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman, A Mind at Play (2017) pp. 161–162.
Ben Olmstead and Daniel Temkin, “Interview with Ben Olmstead—esoteric.codes. Retrieved 28 September2017,” esoteric.codes (2014): <http://esoteric.codes/post/101675489813/interview-with-ben-olmstead>.
John E. Hopcraft, Rajeev Motwani and Je rey D. Ullman, Introduction to Automata eory, Languages, andComputation (2008).
“Drunk Eliza,” Meta lter (2012): <www.meta lter.com/113232/Drunk-Eliza>.
Curt Cloninger, “GltchLnguistx: e Machine in the Ghost / Static Trapped in Mouths” (2010): <www.lab404.com/glitch/>.
Igor Pavlov, “SpellFucker” (2017): <https://spellfucker.com/>.
Daniel Temkin, “ ree Obfuscators for Natural Language” (2017): <http://esoteric.codes/post/168502942367/three-obfuscators-for-natural-language>.
Michael Matteas and Nick Montfort, “A Box, Darkly: Obfuscation, Weird Languages, and Code Aesthetics,” inProceedings of the 6th Digital Arts and Culture Conference (2005) pp. 144–153.
David Lowe, “Sparkl: A Tiny Implementation of Command-Line ‘Sparkline’ Data Visualization,” InternationalObfuscated C Code Contest, 2013 (2013): <www.ioccc.org/2013/dlowe/hint.html>.
Martin Kleppe and Daniel Temkin, “Interview with Martin Kleppe,” esoteric.codes (2017): <http://esoteric.codes/post/157780744195/interview-with-martin-kleppe>.
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