Nerd: The First Programming Language Not Built for Humans
SMRTR summary
Forty percent of computer code is now written by artificial intelligence, and one programmer watching Claude generate TypeScript had a revelation: why should AI write code designed for human eyes that aren't really reading it anyway?
This insight has sparked development of NERD, a programming language that ditches traditional coding symbols for dense English phrases. The logic is surprisingly simple: AI language models process English words like "plus" and "minus" as single tokens, while programming symbols fragment into multiple pieces, making them less efficient.
The result is code that uses 67% fewer tokens than TypeScript while maintaining the same functionality. Instead of cryptic brackets and semicolons, NERD reads more like compressed instructions in plain English.
The creator envisions a future where humans become stakeholders rather than authors of code, debugging by simply telling AI "the login is failing for users with plus signs in their email" rather than hunting through lines of symbols.
While acknowledging this experimental approach might be wrong, the underlying question remains provocative: if machines are writing most code, why not optimize it for machine efficiency rather than human readability that's increasingly theoretical?
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Hacker News.
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