Natural language programming uses syntax and constructs that mirror human language to allow programmers to communicate with computers. It can be more complex than other programming languages, but allows novice programmers to achieve results faster. Parsers and databases are used to interpret instructions, and efforts are being made to support localization for other languages.
When people talk about natural language in computing, they are referring to a programming language that contains constructs and syntax that mirror normal human language. The primary purpose of any natural language is to allow a programmer to use linguistic terms and rules that you are already familiar with to communicate usable instructions to a computer. Due to the requirement for end-user explicitness and the use of an already known and spoken language, natural languages such as logic programming (Prolog) or Lisp tend to be inherently more complex than other programming languages, a depending on higher-order or symbolic abstractions of what the computer can understand and act upon. In other words, the easier it is for the end user to create a computer program without having to know a structured procedural language, or a language other than the one they already speak, the more complex the natural language program engine must be. to support freedom of expression.
Natural languages contain parsers and databases. The databases determine what action the computer should take based on the statement, and the parser determines in what order the syntax should be executed. For example, if the user types “Add two plus two,” the parser must distinguish between noun and verb, figure out what the action of the verb should do, search the database for an appropriate answer, and then produce output that satisfies the instruction. If the user types “Add two to two,” the parser must be able to understand that “and” and “a” mean that the same action should occur and thus produce the same result.
Proponents of natural language programming argue that because natural languages tend to be non-procedural in nature, novice programmers can produce meaningful programs and achieve meaningful results in shorter time frames than they can when needed to create procedural algorithms that lead to the same results. With natural language programming, students learn to express a logical notation of facts. Prolog programs consist of a database, the relationships between database items, and all the boundary conditions that determine which responses are acceptable.
Noam Chomsky’s research and publications on language theory and usage include diagrammatic explorations of the syntactic structure of a language. Prolog and Lisp parsers behave in much the same way, logically sorting the instruction into its components and evaluating the action to take as a result of the parse. Most natural languages are written for English input and output, although many efforts are underway to support localization for other languages.
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