I'd like to take this argument one step further. It might well be possible
with existing technology to write a computerprogram that converted a plain
English description of an algorithm into C. Natural language understanding
programs do best with a limited vocabulary and clear semantics, as would be
the case here.
Would an encryption algorithm description written in plain English then be
subject to prior restraint? Suppose the English description had been
debugged by passing it through the translator and revising it until correct
C code was produced? Would that cause the Enlish text to lose its status as
speach?
I would argue no and claim that the main reason such translating programs
do not already exist is that programmers actually prefer to express their
ideas in languages like C rather than in English.
Arnold Reinhold
