[urbit]

I think the classic analogy is "grep." But they are commented, at least:

  ++  pimp              ::  traced request
    $:  ful=?           ::  | === HEAD
        fur=(unit mark) ::  type goal
        hen=duct        ::  event trace
        som=seam        ::  logical request
        pez=pest        ::  request state
        sip=marl        ::  injected scripts
    ==                  ::

I think this is not at all an unusual data structure for one to find in an HTTP server, no?

Now, this style (four-letter lapidary arm names, usually not nonsense strings but nonsense words) works in some places but not others. Frankly, %eyre is not exactly a triumph of the lapidary style...

[likeclockwork]

This Hoon code is very pretty but the English content of the names is extremely low.

I mean.. reading a programming language I don't know, okay.. I don't expect to be able to understand much. But syntax and semantics aside the names are a language of their own with no attempt at referencing anything that might even be a little bit similar.

It's as though every time you needed to name a concept you came up with a unique word for it. This reads like poetry in a language I will probably never understand.

The docs are written in English but I don't see a lot of signal in here and no real explanation of this vocabulary you've created.

I am having a hard time believing any of this. I would need to see an example of non-code communicative writing in this language. An email or chat excerpt, something with someone saying "call pimp with the seam to get the marl" or however you would phrase whatever it is. Do you verb these nouns? DO you use English prepositions and adjectives when discussing them?

I mean this is not just reading a programming language I don't know, it's reading a programming language with all the names in a foreign language. So even if I could understand broadly what's going on here.. I cannot.

Searching around the repo to try to find out wth `marl` is I found this:

    The fundamental hoon structure used to generate XML is a    manx. A manx is composed of a marx and a marl, representing an XML node

Yeah.. this is like esolang-level opaque. I'm afraid to even run this on my computer.

[urbit]

Frankly, it always surprises me that people are willing to randomly run other peoples' C code! It's really quite plausible that I'm just out to steal your Bitcoin wallet.

The above are all data structures - not even functions. So we say "a pimp" or "a marl" or whatever. For precision, we might say "slam a gate on a pimp," but everyone will understand you when you say "call a function on a pimp."

Then, we refer to the comments (written in English) to see what a pimp, etc, is. Documentation is admittedly a problem, but it's not any more or less a problem than in any other language, I feel. Obviously, we could have more of it!

[likeclockwork]

What did you feel when you wrote "slam a gate on a pimp" just now?

[urbit]

That I was keeping my p - never mind.

It's amazing how quickly words you know lose their meanings, or rather acquire new and distinct ones, in a functional context. When the iPad was released, I remember distinctly the number of people who thought the name was funny, because it reminded them of a female hygiene product. It reminded me of a female hygiene product. But it doesn't anymore...