I just learned about a idea that really fired me up—and I think that it’s something that more individuals should be talking about.
We’ve witnessed the progression of software—how it’s moved from the arcane punch cards and assembly languages of old to the high-level languages today such as Python and JavaScript. But in recent years, there’s a subtle transformation that’s a revolutionary transformation:
Programming is becoming increasingly similar to natural human language.
Consider this: instead of typing loops out like for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++), you just type:
Repeat 5 times say "hello world" .
That is not pseudo-code. That is actual running code in a toy programming language I’ve been developing called SimplyLang. It’s a small project—but I think it suggests something much bigger.
Code to Conversation
Every programming decade has had a single overarching trend: increasing abstraction. Each one carries us further from the naked machine complexity and closer to the human mind:
- Machine code: Strong but incomprehensible.
- Assembly: Simpler but still low-level.
- AI tools such as Copilot / ChatGPT: Now we’re coding with prompts and receiving real, functional code.
And now we’re asking ourselves: Why not avoid the syntax altogether?
If the computer can understand intent, then we might be able to stop thinking in terms of machines and start designing software the way we express ideas naturally.
Why Abstraction is Important
The closest analogy I can provide is to order chocolate.
You say, “I’d like a dark chocolate bar.”.
You don’t need to be aware of how cacao beans are roasted, ground, and tempered. Someone or something does that for you.
The programming must be the same.
With growing abstraction:
- No more worrying about brackets, semicolons, or package installs.
- No more import not found debugging or compiler installations.
- Just focus on what you want to do, and let the system figure out how to do it.
That’s the power of combining abstraction and AI. And it’s not science fiction – it’s already underway.
AI: The Next Compiler?
AI is not yet another piece of the stack. It’s becoming the stack itself.
- It knows the context of what you are attempting to construct.
- It fills in the blanks that you hadn’t left entirely defined.
- It is consistent with your style, your objectives, and your mission.
Whereas we used to have human interpreters for machines, we are now at a point where machines are interpreting for us.
That is, less and less about code, but about collaboration.
A Small-Scale Experiment but a Grand Idea
I tried this method with SimplyLang. It is a small interpreter that takes basic English-like commands and runs them.
Repeat 10 times say "hello" .
No syntax errors. No indent rules. No cryptic phrases. It’s not trying to replace Python or match industrial-strength languages. But it does pose a bigger question:
What if the next generation of coders isn’t programmed to code—but programmed to express intent?
That’s the real change:
From writing code → to defining behavior.
Why It Matters (To Everyone)
- Students can focus on solving problems rather than memorizing syntax.
- Designers and non-devs can automate flows without having to learn entire frameworks.
- Hackers and builders can accomplish things faster without boilerplate.
- Creativity, and not technical capability, is the actual limitation. The takeaway?
The more we abstract complexity, the more room we make for innovation.
What’s Next?
We’re early yet, but this is what seems inevitable:
- AI agents that manage complete project scaffolding from requests in plain English.
- Layered ecosystems in which each abstraction smoothly passes along to the next.
- A world where **no-code / low-code turns into “speak-code”.
Soon enough, “coding” will no longer be about coding—maybe it’ll just be about talking clearly.
Final Thought
We’ve already passed the days of 1s and 0s—and we’re moving towards a future where one with a good idea, and some reasonably well-written sentences, can bring that idea to life.
I’d love to hear what the Hacker News community thinks: Is natural-language programming a flash in the pan, or an authentic peek at the computing future? If you’re interested, give SimplyLang a shot or simply follow along. For if we can talk to code… what else can we start talking into existence?
