From Jonathan Swan
It is alarming to read that the next generation of programming languages might resemble Microsoft Excel (8 June, p 36). I have built a career on spreadsheet correctness in a software field in which errors are more common than usual.
My focus is financial models, written by intelligent and diligent finance professionals using Excel. And yet experience – and most research – suggests that fewer than 10 per cent of these spreadsheets are error-free.
The proliferation of computer languages described in your article may be a problem within the industry but it also raises the bar for entry. This ensures that programming remains a professional discipline from which the general Excel user has much to learn.
The struggle for software reliability has indeed generated a plethora of languages. The struggle will continue and we will approach, if never quite reach, the goal. But eliminate all human error? As author Michael Brooks admits: never. Enable Joe public to program a road vehicle? Ouch!
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