HCI VISTAS, VOLUME-I, 2005-2006
	Concept of Language in the Computer Science 1 Dr. Dinesh S. Katre 2 Mr. Devashish Pandya
About HCI VISTAS	INDEX	Article INS-3./Jan. 2006	<< >>
This paper was presented at the National Seminar on Concept of Language held at Centre for Advanced Study in Sanskrit, University of Pune on 23rd Jan. 2006 Summary of Paper: Humans have the unique ability to conduct purely conceptual thought process unlike the typical animal instinct of responding only when there is a sensory stimulus. This thought process and the expression of thought is possible through language. Human-to-human communication has manifested through natural languages primarily in the form of the spoken and the printed word but it has flourished by leaps and bounds through modern electronic media like Computers, Internet, Broadband, Mobile Devices, Satellite Television, etc. As a result, the concept of language has evolved further with new objectives, new scripts, new vocabularies, and new grammars to facilitate the communication between humans and intelligent devices such as computers, robots and all kinds of electronic devices.   The natural languages and the computer languages both have borrowed from each other and influenced each other in many ways. Language plays an important role at multiple levels, first when the technology developer instructs the computers through programming language, and second when the user interface of software application communicates with the user. We will try taking an account of similarities, differences, influence and impact of communication between human and computer to understand the concept of language in computer science.   Computer Programming can be seen as a process of translation- a translation of a task intentioned by a human into instructions that a computer can understand and execute, typically called machine code. The priority of Computer Programming Languages is to reduce the translation distance from the user mind to the user language.    Programming Languages usually support vocabulary, a grammar, guarantee uniqueness in words & context, support operations such as arithmetic & logical operations, and support constructs such as loops, etc. While the 'Programming Language' is 'defined', it allows introduction of new 'words'.   The Programming Languages have evolved over time. These are classified as First Generation Languages also called 1GLs- (basically machine code, a string of 0s and 1s), to 5GLs (usually visual or graphical programming interface). Various programming languages, such as FORTRAN, C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, Prolog, Lisp, etc. have been designed to meet certain objectives. Depending on the specific computational models supported, they are classified as Imperative Programming Languages, Object Oriented Programming Languages, Declarative Programming Languages, etc.   Communication between computer and human happens through the user interface, which is specially designed to address human sensory and cognitive requirements. As per the semiotics, any system of communication, to qualify as a 'language', needs to address the 'Memory of Serial Order' in humans, which allows one to observe and memorize the details, then represent them through certain symbols with fixed set of rules and then express these symbols to communicate. The user interfaces are evolving a unique language through multimedia. It is a combination of signs, layouts, visual representations, sounds, metaphors, animations, mnemonics, user domain lexicons, and dynamic and interactive objects. The sign language of icons needs to be standardized by building a lex-icon of icons as there are several semantic contraditions in the use of iconic interfaces. The symbolic representations can also be multi-sensory or multi-media. User interfaces are evolving a kind of body language through behavior and mannerisms to address the anthropomorphic needs of human beings. A conscious effort to design the body language of user interface is essential.    In many ways, the language of user interface is beginning to emulate natural languages. So far; unlike the natural languages that have the power to make us laugh, cry and revolt against the tyrant rulers; the communication through user interface has been struggling to just convey simple messages. But now, the user interface designers are trying to craft experiences and address human emotions. The user interfaces are yet to arrive at the language that requires minimum learning and that can address multi-cultural societies without the problem of misinterpretations.   Further, the paper briefly touches upon other issues where there is communication, wherein at least one of the entities involved is a computer, (and hence 'languages' aspects are in play) such as Communication between Computer systems, issues in newer mode of interaction between users and computer systems (using Speech, Gestures, Face recognition, etc.), Multilingual computing, etc.    The paper also touches upon communication between humans over media enabled by Computer Networks such as email, SMS, chat-rooms, etc. These provide platforms where even though written text is used as a means of communication, the language used is slightly different such as use of acronyms, shorter word representations, spellings which indicate the way in which the word is spoken, simultaneous & multiple contexts, etc.   The paper highlights the challenges for Computer Languages. Today Computer Languages are like 'Pidgins' and should evolve towards a 'Creole', with a larger vocabulary, verb tense, etc. Computer languages need to add sensitivity to contexts to be able to take advantage of mechanisms to promote efficiency. Computer languages need to become tolerant to imprecise inputs. The paper concludes with trends in evolution of the Computer Languages towards greater humanization.    References: Jonathan Gurdin and Donald Norman 1991, 'Language Evolution and Human-Computer Interaction', Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society IEEE Encyclopedia of Software Engineering Seyed Roosta, Foundations of Programming Languages, Thomson Brookes/Cole     Feedback at Contribute Articles To
© Copyright 2006-2007