[coldtea]

>How many people can read advanced math formulas? Mostly none. So what good is it that they are used? The answer is, it doesn't really matter if outsiders can't read it. Yes, it increases the hurdle to enter the field, but the benefits drastically outweight the initial learning in the long term.

Do they? I feel like a "citation needed" is in order.

There's a target for math formulas, and it's mathematicians. Those can read math formulas, even advanced ones. If outsiders (that is, laymen) can't read them, it's ok: they aren't supposed to be working with math most of the time.

The target for programming languages is programmers. But unlike math formulas, the outsiders that can't read some language J isn't laymen, but still programmers. The problem is not that non-programmer Joe Sixpack can't read J. The problem is that programmers can't read it, or find it unyieldly.

You could argue that, 'that's ok, the target for J is people who comprehend and are productive with something like J'. Sure, but that's precisely what we call out here. That some languages, even though expressive technically, put off not just outsiders from programming, but also programmers.

[valenterry]

I don't think every mathematician can read any formula, no matter of the field and how advanced it is.

And for developers it's the same. However, I'll grant that PLs are evolving faster than math does, so there is more catchup-required for sure. But without that there would be much more limited progress. Think lambdas: before they were an "elite feature" and now they are everywhere and languages have adopted them and people had to learn new syntax.