Naur's "Programming as Theory Building" and LLMs replacing human programmers
a year ago
- #LLMs
- #Human vs AI
- #Programming Theory
- Peter Naur's 'Programming as Theory Building' argues that programming involves building a 'theory' of the program, not just producing code.
- LLMs lack the ability to build theories as defined by Gilbert Ryle, as they only ingest and reproduce the output of work, not the underlying reasoning.
- Naur emphasizes that understanding and modifying large programs requires continuous, intimate knowledge from the programmers who built them.
- Programming is not merely text production; it involves maintaining a deep understanding of the program's structure and purpose.
- LLMs cannot replace human programmers because they cannot develop the necessary theories or understand the context behind code.