What are your thoughts on a future where code is represented as a structured model, rather than text? Do you think that AI-powered coding assistants benefit from that?

Last Updated: 01.07.2025 00:48

What are your thoughts on a future where code is represented as a structured model, rather than text? Do you think that AI-powered coding assistants benefit from that?

Another canonical form could be Lisp S-expressions, etc.

in structures, such as:

+ for

Dakota Johnson Is “Always Psyched” To Film Sex Scenes - The Cut

Long ago in the 50s this was even thought of as a kind of “AI” and this association persisted into the 60s. Several Turing Awards were given for progress on this kind of “machine reasoning”.

Most coding assistants — with or without “modern “AI” — also do reasoning and manipulation of structures.

First, it’s worth noting that the “syntax recognition” phase of most compilers already does build a “structured model”, often in what used to be called a “canonical form” (an example of this might be a “pseudo-function tree” where every elementary process description is put into the same form — so both “a + b” and “for i := 1 to x do […]” are rendered as

These glowing axolotls may hold the secret to human limb regeneration - MSN

A slogan that might help you get past the current fads is:

plus(a, b) for(i, 1, x, […])

/ \ and ⁄ / | \

How do you get free followers on TikTok in 5 minutes?

These structures are made precisely to allow programs to “reason” about some parts of lower level meaning, and in many cases to rearrange the structure to preserve meaning but to make the eventual code that is generated more efficient.

i.e. “operator like things” at the nodes …

NOT DATA … BUT MEANING!

Why is Meghan Markle struggling with her Hollywood connections?

It’s important to realize that “modern “AI” doesn’t understand human level meanings any better today (in many cases: worse!). So it is not going to be able to serve as much of a helper in a general coding assistant.

a b i 1 x []