Over the years C and C++ programmers have devised many ways of making their writing clearer. As a result program are much more readable than ever before. I've often wondered if the lessons learned by programming could be applied to English as well.
Take Microsoft notation (aka. Hungarian notation) for example. It puts a prefix on each variable name telling us what the type of the variable. Wouldn't English be much clearer if we identified each verb with "v", each noun with "n" and so on.
pAfter avAll aMany nEnglish nWords vCan vHave aMore cThan nOne nMeaning. pFor nExample "mall" vIs prBoth aA nVerb cAnd aA nNoun. pWith pnOur aNew nNotation pYou vCan vWrite nSomething aLike, "aThere vWas aSuch aA nCrowd pAt arThe nMall aThat pnWe vWere vMalled" cAnd nPeople vCan aEasily vUnderstand pYou.
avNext pnWe vTurn pnOur nAttention pTo nSentence vGrouping. pIn nC pnWe vUse avCurly nBraces "{}" pTo vGroup nStatements. pIn nEnglish pnWe vUse arThe nParagraph. aA nStart pOf nParagraph vIs vIndicated pBy aA aBlank nLine cOr aA nIndent. aBut pnThis nConstruct vIs aRather vLimited cAnd vConfusing.
{
vUsing avCurly nBraces aLike nC aWould vBe aMuch aBetter. aNow pnIt's aEasy pTo vTell aWhen aA nParagraph vBegins. {
aAlso cIf pnWe vHave aA nDigression aWithin aA nParagraph, pnWe vCan aEasily vSet pnIt aOff pWith aAnother nSet pOf avCurly nBraces. {
cAnd cIf pnWe vDigress aWithin aA nDigression, aThat vCan vBe vTaken nCare pOf avToo.
}
} avThus pWith pnOur aNew nParagraph nDelimiters pnWe avNo aLonger vHave pTo nLimit nParagraphs pTo aA aSingle nSubject. pnWe vCan aEasily vPut pIn avAs aMany nDigressions cOr nSide nSubjects avAs pnWe vWant.
{
aNow vLet's vTackle nSentence nStructure. aGood vProgramming nC nStyle
vTells pUs pTo nStart aEach nStatement pOn aA nLine pOf pnIt's aOwn.
avWell aWhat's aGood aEnough
pFor nC vIs aGood aEnough pFor nEnglish.
aBut aWhat vHappens aWhen aA nSentence vGets avToo
aLong pFor aA aSingle nLine?
pnWe'll vDo aLike nC cAnd nLine avUp aSimilar nOperators.
vHave pYou avEver vRead
aA aLong nSentence cAnd
pnIt vSeemed aThat pnIt
vHad aA nLot pOf nWords cAnd
aMany nClauses vStrung
avTogether pBy "cAnd" cAnd
vWasn't pnIt aHard pTo vRead cAnd
aDifficult pTo vRead cAnd
vConfusing cAnd
nTroublesome.
avWell, vUsing C nStatement aStructuring nConventions
pnWe vEliminate aSuch nProblems pWith aLong nSentences.
}
{
/*
* The next sentences how comment can help understanding
* our new English.
*/
arThe aOnly nProblem pWith pnOur aNew nSentence nStructure
nEnglish vIs aThat pnIt nMight vBe aA nBit vConfusing pTo
pnThose pnWho vAre aNot vUsed pTo pnIt.
arThe nAnswer vIs pTo
vAdd nComments pTo arThe nText vEnclosed pIn "/* */".
pIn aOld nEnglish vExplaining pnWhat pnWe vAre vDoing
pIn pnOur nStructured nEnglish.
/*
* The next sentence explains the usefulness of comments
*/
pnThis vAllows pnUs pTo vUse nEnglish pTo vExplain pnOur nEnglish.
/*
* This paragraph details the conclusion of this
* column.
*/
aSo pBy vBringing pnOur nKnowledge pOf nProgramming pTo vWriting
pnWe vHave aNow vMade vReading nEnglish avAs nClear cAnd aEasy
avAs vReading nC nCode.
}