Relative Efficency of Programming Languages vs. Legal Language (by Jeremy Zawodny)(jeremy.zawodny.com)
jeremy.zawodny.com
Relative Efficency of Programming Languages vs. Legal Language (by Jeremy Zawodny)
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/009421.html
4 comments
Programming and legal are exactly alike: they try to make a precise and unambiguous set of rules and procedures with words. They try to translate language into reality. The difference is that the language of programming has to abide by physics and logic, while the logic of legal has to abide by the flaws of language.
From the article: "[Legalese] doesn't use modern techniques like subroutines or standard libraries."
Hey, maybe these guys will be the ones to change that:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44361
Hey, maybe these guys will be the ones to change that:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44361
I was asked to implement a municipality's recently-revised alarm permit legislation. I read the old legislation, the new legislation and wrote down questions that weren't covered by either (never mind how to handle the transition between rule sets). At a meeting with all the guilty parties and their lawyers no one was able to answer my questions. They were surprised and embarrassed that so many details had been overlooked. An additional constraint was that, given the political climate, the possibility of properly amending the legislation was slim.
I made a list of suggestions to plug the holes and asked for a sign off. No one wanted to accept responsibility. Finally a division chief relented and the details were swept under the political rug as "regulatory implementation".
So my experience is that legal language is far too vague to translate directly to code.