[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":519},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-19984582":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":10,"maker":11,"posted_at":12,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rank_in_year":16,"shown_in_year":17,"top":18,"tier":19,"category":20,"subcategory":21,"format":22,"keywords":23,"reception":28,"sentiment":29,"stance_mix":30,"scored_comments":34,"aspects":35,"strip":44,"post_text":47,"what":48,"said":81,"maker_in_thread":169,"shape":180,"grid":185,"attempts":478,"same_week":483,"maker_shows":42,"maker_hidden":511,"reader_version":512,"card":513},"19984582","Metacode","Write code using natural language","title","Show HN: Write code using natural language","https:\u002F\u002Fmetacode.app","metacode.app","tshepom",1558553218,2019,209,111,184,2195,9,"notable","dev_tools","code snippet search","desktop_app",[24,25,26,27],"natural language programming","code snippets","swift","code generator","mixed",0.098,{"positive":31,"neutral":32,"mixed":33,"critical":18},13,18,4,44,{"idea":36,"docs":38,"design":41,"execution":43},{"positive":37,"critical":18},6,{"positive":39,"critical":40},3,0,{"positive":42,"critical":40},2,{"positive":40,"critical":40},[40,40,40,39,45,46,46,39,39,46,39,46,46,40,46,46,39,39,39,46,45,39,39,45,45,39,40,40,40,40,39,42,39,45,40,40,40,46,40,40],1,5,null,{"problem":49,"audience":61,"pricing":47,"motivation":47,"time_to_build":47,"stack":70,"openness":79,"stage":80,"team_size":79},{"value":50,"source":51,"evidence":52},"Looking up verbose iOS\u002FmacOS API syntax while programming.","commenter",[53,57],{"id":54,"by":55,"text":56},"19985221","swlkr","Wow I really like this! My main problem when programming against mac\u002FiOS APIs is constantly looking up how to do the little things shown in the demo video. I don't look forward…",{"id":58,"by":59,"text":60},"19985083","matchbok","Cool experiment. Really shows how poorly conceived\u002Fverbose Auto Layout is. The first thing I do in any iOS project is add some sort of wrapper around all that constraint nonsense.",{"value":62,"source":63,"evidence":64},"Swift and iOS\u002FmacOS developers.","inferred",[65,66],{"id":54,"by":55,"text":56},{"id":67,"by":68,"text":69},"19985269","guiltygods","Only Swift or it can handle any language ?",[71],{"value":72,"source":73,"evidence":74},"Swift","maker",[75,76],{"id":67,"by":68,"text":69},{"id":77,"by":11,"text":78},"19985344","Yup, just Swift right now, but collecting requested languages here: https:\u002F\u002Fforms.gle\u002FYfgxn3yi4JHvjmD17","unknown","launched",{"praise":82,"objections":102,"requests":122,"questions":135,"alternatives":143},[83,94],{"value":84,"source":51,"evidence":85},"Fast, simple, and clear landing page with useful demos.",[86,90],{"id":87,"by":88,"text":89},"19986303","Wump","I gave it a try; love how fast and simple it is! You probably already know this, but the set of snippets are somewhat limited at the moment (though pretty good for a first…",{"id":91,"by":92,"text":93},"19985605","jason_zig","Nice landing page, it made it extremely clear what your product was and how I might use it. I'm usually skeptical about programming language abstractions but from the demo it…",{"value":95,"source":51,"evidence":96},"Useful for verbose frameworks and API lookups.",[97,101],{"id":98,"by":99,"text":100},"19985793","mistersys","Really awesome stuff for dealing with verbose frameworks. In the code builder demo, it strikes me that all that code in swift could be replaced with a declarative format: ``` let…",{"id":54,"by":55,"text":56},[103,114],{"value":104,"source":51,"evidence":105},"Natural language is ambiguous, so it is hard to make reliable.",[106,110],{"id":107,"by":108,"text":109},"19985553","throwaway55554","Natural language is ambiguous. Grammars for computer languages are designed to remove ambiguity. A natural language that is used to program a computer, too, will have to remove…",{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},"19987986","max0563","The problem with this kind of stuff is that by due to the ambiguity of natural language, it becomes more complicated to actually do this at scale. Also, you are essentially…",{"value":115,"source":51,"evidence":116},"It is a snippet generator with another syntax to learn, not true natural language programming.",[117,121],{"id":118,"by":119,"text":120},"19986339","gridlockd","It's not actually a \"natural programming language\", it's more of a snippet generator. The output is ordinary code and you still have to understand it. I can see how this would be…",{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},[123,127],{"value":124,"source":51,"evidence":125},"Support for more languages beyond Swift.",[126],{"id":67,"by":68,"text":69},{"value":128,"source":51,"evidence":129},"Better documentation and more snippet metadata.",[130,134],{"id":131,"by":132,"text":133},"19985914","_bxg1","Using NL as a macro system for quickly inserting code, instead of as a way to hide actual code, seems like a good use-case. I wish the website was more informative about how much…",{"id":87,"by":88,"text":89},[136],{"value":137,"source":51,"evidence":138},"Is the snippet generation dynamic or template based?",[139],{"id":140,"by":141,"text":142},"19988268","marknadal","So this seems to be more like a natural search for code components? Does anyone know if it is dynamic or using preset templates with adjustable variables? I did a talk out in…",[144,155,162],{"value":145,"source":51,"evidence":146},"AppleScript",[147,151],{"id":148,"by":149,"text":150},"19985608","faissaloo","If you want to understand why this is bad just look at AppleScript, probably the closest thing I've ever seen to natural language, the only problem is that it's impossible to…",{"id":152,"by":153,"text":154},"19987305","Wowfunhappy","One of the things I really like about Applescript is that, at least for simple tasks, the code reads as standard english. This isn't to say you can type anything in english and…",{"value":156,"source":51,"evidence":157},"Inform 7",[158],{"id":159,"by":160,"text":161},"19985888","llamataboot","My \"first\" programming language other than BASIC as a kid was probably learning Inform to create interactive fiction with http:\u002F\u002Finform7.com\u002F It was a pretty complex language,…",{"value":163,"source":51,"evidence":164},"IDE snippet insertion in Visual Studio and IntelliJ",[165],{"id":166,"by":167,"text":168},"19986058","jasode","One way to look at Stackoverflow is that it's a gigantic index that maps \"intuitive plain English\" to \"non-intuitive exact syntax\". A good exampe of bridging this mismatch is…",{"comments":37,"answered":46,"key":170},[171,174,177],{"id":172,"text":173},"19986018","I wrote a comment about how it works: https:\u002F\u002Fnews.ycombinator.com\u002Fitem?id=19985482. Will do a short blog post sometime soon.",{"id":175,"text":176},"19985482","Of course: the app draws from a database of thousands of snippets that are cleaned up and generalized with some scripting. Natural language queries are handled like search, with…",{"id":178,"text":179},"19987135","That would be awesome! But yeah nothing like that for iOS comes to mind.",{"commenters":181,"max_depth":182,"maker_replies":37,"first_comment_mins":183,"lifespan_hours":184},70,8,57,288,[186,190,194,196,199,202,205,207,209,213,215,218,221,224,226,230,233,237,238,241,244,246,250,252,255,257,259,262,264,265,267,270,272,273,276,278,281,284,287,291,295,298,301,304,309,312,315,317,319,321,324,328,331,336,338,341,344,347,350,353,356,359,360,364,366,368,371,373,376,378,380,382,385,388,391,393,396,399,402,405,408,410,412,414,416,418,420,422,426,429,431,434,436,439,442,444,447,450,453,455,458,460,463,464,467,469,472,474,476],[187,40,40,188,189,40],"19988724","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","TBF-RnD",[191,40,40,192,193,40],"19989640","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","YeGoblynQueenne",[195,40,40,192,189,40],"19993278",[197,40,40,198,193,40],"19993393","commenter\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea",[200,40,40,192,201,40],"19994051","tracer4201",[203,40,40,204,193,40],"19995522","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[206,40,40,204,201,40],"19997338",[208,40,40,204,189,40],"19999080",[210,40,39,211,212,40],"19989681","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","tylerhou",[214,40,40,204,189,40],"19993331",[216,40,39,211,217,40],"19989795","thomasahle",[219,40,45,220,189,40],"19993328","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea",[222,40,45,220,223,40],"19992527","machiaweliczny",[225,40,40,204,189,40],"19993505",[227,45,46,228,229,40],"19985265","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea","seisvelas",[231,45,39,211,232,40],"19989158","carlmr",[234,42,39,235,236,40],"19985635","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs","abecedarius",[172,42,40,235,11,45],[239,42,46,240,236,40],"19986846","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[242,42,39,211,243,40],"19986083","NikkiA",[58,39,40,245,59,40],"other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[247,39,39,248,249,40],"19985242","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","tannerc",[175,39,40,251,11,45],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[253,39,40,204,254,40],"19988507","zapzupnz",[256,39,40,245,59,40],"19992510",[131,33,46,258,132,40],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fdesign",[260,33,46,228,261,40],"19986069","scotty79",[87,46,39,263,88,40],"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fexecution",[140,37,39,211,141,40],[54,266,46,228,55,40],7,[268,266,46,228,269,40],"19985480","epberry",[98,182,39,271,99,40],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign",[178,182,40,248,11,45],[274,182,39,271,275,40],"19988808","modarts",[277,182,46,258,99,40],"20087142",[279,18,40,280,59,40],"19985364","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign",[282,18,40,280,283,40],"19990523","Grustaf",[285,18,40,286,59,40],"19992505","other\u002Fcritical\u002Fdesign",[288,289,46,240,290,40],"19985059",10,"king_magic",[292,293,39,211,294,40],"19986855",11,"aatharuv",[296,293,40,245,297,40],"19996899","GorgeRonde",[91,299,46,300,92,40],12,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fdocs",[302,31,46,300,303,40],"19985650","carhartt",[305,306,39,307,308,40],"19985403",14,"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fidea","DanielBMarkham",[310,306,39,211,311,40],"19986123","MuffinFlavored",[313,306,40,188,314,40],"19986898","barbecue_sauce",[316,306,40,245,311,40],"19990926",[318,306,40,245,314,40],"20022305",[320,306,39,211,297,40],"19996951",[322,306,40,192,323,40],"19986274","joe_the_user",[325,326,39,211,327,40],"19995274",15,"dugluak",[329,330,40,245,261,40],"19986078",16,[332,333,46,334,335,40],"19986241",17,"maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fdocs","bawllz",[337,333,40,235,11,45],"19986871",[339,32,45,220,340,40],"19985107","injidup",[342,32,40,245,343,40],"19985158","Tehchops",[345,32,40,245,346,40],"19985284","imglorp",[348,32,39,211,349,40],"19985337","cleansy",[351,32,40,245,352,40],"19985968","tigershark",[354,32,40,204,355,40],"19987419","codr7",[67,357,39,358,68,40],19,"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[77,357,40,248,11,45],[361,362,45,220,363,40],"19985678",20,"AdmiralAsshat",[365,362,40,204,254,40],"19988515",[148,367,45,220,149,40],21,[369,367,45,220,370,40],"19985681","JadeNB",[372,367,40,211,11,45],"19985814",[374,367,39,235,375,40],"19985969","pvg",[111,377,45,220,112,40],22,[166,379,46,228,167,40],23,[381,379,40,204,88,40],"19986444",[383,379,40,245,384,40],"19986470","SilasX",[386,379,40,245,387,40],"19987245","coldacid",[389,379,40,245,390,40],"19987811","pseudalopex",[392,379,40,245,384,40],"19991871",[394,379,40,245,395,40],"19986705","llaappqq",[397,379,40,245,398,40],"19987230","Aeolun",[400,379,40,204,401,40],"19988439","ygra",[403,379,40,245,404,40],"19987094","0815test",[406,379,40,204,407,40],"19987846","jimktrains2",[409,379,40,204,167,40],"19989754",[411,379,40,204,407,40],"19990924",[413,379,40,204,167,40],"19991343",[159,415,39,307,160,40],24,[417,415,39,211,375,40],"19986051",[419,415,39,211,160,40],"19986244",[421,415,45,220,375,40],"19995017",[423,415,39,424,425,40],"19986119","project\u002Fmixed\u002Fdocs","pushpop",[427,415,40,428,160,40],"19986269","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[107,430,45,220,108,40],25,[432,430,40,192,433,40],"19985694","The_rationalist",[435,430,40,245,384,40],"19985767",[437,430,40,245,438,40],"19986922","_emacsomancer_",[440,430,40,204,441,40],"19985790","stevenyoung",[443,430,40,204,433,40],"20008307",[445,430,40,245,446,40],"19985913","ryl00",[448,430,40,245,449,40],"19986076","sbov",[451,430,40,245,452,40],"19986932","roywiggins",[454,430,40,245,384,40],"19985758",[456,430,40,245,457,40],"19986173","anamexis",[459,430,40,245,384,40],"19986375",[461,430,40,204,462,40],"19986130","OJFord",[118,430,46,228,119,40],[465,430,40,188,466,40],"19986821","munk-a",[152,468,40,245,153,40],26,[470,468,40,245,471,40],"19987545","microtherion",[473,468,40,245,153,40],"19994027",[475,468,40,245,471,40],"19995639",[477,468,40,245,153,40],"19995728",[479,480],{"id":4,"t":12,"points":14,"comments":15},{"id":481,"t":482,"points":182,"comments":45},"20638114",1565206834,[484,488,493,498,503,507],{"id":485,"name":486,"points":487,"category":20},"19968271","Keikai",386,{"id":489,"name":490,"points":491,"category":492},"19981869","Scar",363,"infrastructure",{"id":494,"name":495,"points":496,"category":497},"19946941","The Cyber Plumber's Handbook",277,"learning_science",{"id":499,"name":500,"points":501,"category":502},"19960313","Link Drop",188,"productivity",{"id":504,"name":505,"points":506,"category":20},"19954195","UXY",126,{"id":508,"name":509,"points":510,"category":20},"19960412","Oya",116,false,"v2",{"id":514,"name":5,"line":6,"ai":511,"cat":20,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rec":28,"s":515,"top":18,"kw":516,"maker":11,"domain":10,"tier":19,"attempts":42,"strip":517,"url":9,"mix":518,"praise":84,"objection":104,"sub":21},19984582,0.1,[24,25,26,27],"0003155335355055333513311300003231000500",[31,32,33,18],1793990989687]