Survey 2023: Is Writing with Computer Languages considered Professional Writing?

OBJECTIVE: For my research project in ENGL-2233 I proposed the question “Is writing with computer languages considered professional writing?”. Writing in a programming language in concept should act similarly how you would write for any other job, to communicate clearly. However, in practice It’s clear to the computer but not always to humans.

Do computer languages hold the same societal value as other ways of communicating? If so, why and do any computer languages not fit with our way of writing professionally? I asked in total fourteen people some who have experience with code and are in the computer science fields and other who aren’t.

Here’s what I found.

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Additional Comments

“You use programming functions and key words like you would use formulas and operators in math. Learning a literal language is learning equivalent (or new) words that hold a meaning you already knew in your native language / assigning words to an object or concept. The closest you could get to this with code is simply learning what the keywords do and how to use them. ”
“It holds the same value as it can be used instructionally, to inform, or to entertain. However, I wouldn’t deem it professional as it is meant to inform or control computers and not people.”
“In my opinion, CS languages and Written/Verbal languages are very different. CS languages are more akin to learning rules and syntax to *build* something, not to communicate. They have very different goals. In such professional writing and coding are very very different. Being able to clearly speak and communicate ideas is a very different skill than technically programming an efficient program. In my experience, a lot of people that are good at one are very bad at the other.”
“I think programming languages are useful as a technical language but shouldn’t be considered foreign language since it isn’t expressed verbally (typically). A traditional language in my opinion is one that is expressed both on paper and verbally.”