Metacode
Dev tools
code snippet search
SHOW HN2019
How HN took it
13 positive, 18 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 9 critical, out of 44 comments about the project. Thread score +0.10.
Idea: 6 for, 9 againstDocs: 3 for, 0 againstDesign: 2 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fast, simple, and clear landing page with useful demos.
From 2 comments
I gave it a try; love how fast and simple it is! You probably already know this, but the set of snippets are somewhat limited at the moment (though pretty good for a first…
Wump on HNNice landing page, it made it extremely clear what your product was and how I might use it. I'm usually skeptical about programming language abstractions but from the demo it…
jason_zig on HN
Useful for verbose frameworks and API lookups.
From 2 comments
Really awesome stuff for dealing with verbose frameworks. In the code builder demo, it strikes me that all that code in swift could be replaced with a declarative format: ``` let…
mistersys on HNWow I really like this! My main problem when programming against mac/iOS APIs is constantly looking up how to do the little things shown in the demo video. I don't look forward…
swlkr on HN
Objections
Natural language is ambiguous, so it is hard to make reliable.
From 2 comments
Natural language is ambiguous. Grammars for computer languages are designed to remove ambiguity. A natural language that is used to program a computer, too, will have to remove…
throwaway55554 on HNThe problem with this kind of stuff is that by due to the ambiguity of natural language, it becomes more complicated to actually do this at scale. Also, you are essentially…
max0563 on HN
It is a snippet generator with another syntax to learn, not true natural language programming.
From 2 comments
It's not actually a "natural programming language", it's more of a snippet generator. The output is ordinary code and you still have to understand it. I can see how this would be…
gridlockd on HNThe problem with this kind of stuff is that by due to the ambiguity of natural language, it becomes more complicated to actually do this at scale. Also, you are essentially…
max0563 on HN
Requests
Support for more languages beyond Swift.
From 1 comment
Only Swift or it can handle any language ?
guiltygods on HN
Better documentation and more snippet metadata.
From 2 comments
Using NL as a macro system for quickly inserting code, instead of as a way to hide actual code, seems like a good use-case. I wish the website was more informative about how much…
_bxg1 on HNI gave it a try; love how fast and simple it is! You probably already know this, but the set of snippets are somewhat limited at the moment (though pretty good for a first…
Wump on HN
Questions
Is the snippet generation dynamic or template based?
From 1 comment
So this seems to be more like a natural search for code components? Does anyone know if it is dynamic or using preset templates with adjustable variables? I did a talk out in…
marknadal on HN
Alternatives named
AppleScript
From 2 comments
If you want to understand why this is bad just look at AppleScript, probably the closest thing I've ever seen to natural language, the only problem is that it's impossible to…
faissaloo on HNOne of the things I really like about Applescript is that, at least for simple tasks, the code reads as standard english. This isn't to say you can type anything in english and…
Wowfunhappy on HN
Inform 7
From 1 comment
My "first" programming language other than BASIC as a kid was probably learning Inform to create interactive fiction with http://inform7.com/ It was a pretty complex language,…
llamataboot on HN
IDE snippet insertion in Visual Studio and IntelliJ
From 1 comment
One way to look at Stackoverflow is that it's a gigantic index that maps "intuitive plain English" to "non-intuitive exact syntax". A good exampe of bridging this mismatch is…
jasode on HN