Free-Form Linguistic Input In Mathematica 8

vbraga writes "With the release of Mathematica 8, it now allows input through free-form English instead of the Mathematica syntax, just like the Wolfram|Alpha engine. The results are impressive. From the blog post: 'I routinely found myself using free-form linguistics as an integral part of longer computations — randomly interspersing Mathematica syntax and free-form linguistics on different lines in a Mathematica session, and just using whichever was most convenient for a particular input. And here's an exciting part: in Mathematica 8 the free-form linguistics doesn't just operate line-by-line. It knows the context in which it's used in a notebook, so you can use it to build things up.'"

Actually this looks pretty good

[pavon]

When you are programming think about how often you use code completion because you can't remember parameter order, and how often you google stuff because you can't remember the exact class/function name. This lets you "google" without leaving the page, and cuts down on the amount of typing necessary. The fact that they allow you to refine the interpretation is what really makes this the difference between a frustrating and smooth experience.

Re:Freeform linguistics no good unless perfect

[noidentity]

Put another way, a natural language system has to do better than I can do with a dumb system. The dumb system is predictable, so I can use my intelligence in best formulating my commands to it. A natural language system is not nearly as predictable, so I either have to learn its much more complex behavior, or just give up and hope it does what I want, but have little recourse if it doesn't. I know which type of system I'd want (and Google's unhelpful "hey, I think you were really searching for this, so I changed your query" is a perfect example of why I hate clever systems).

Re:Freeform linguistics no good unless perfect

[Amorymeltzer]

That probably makes it much easier to teach. Learning mathematica was wonderful but you gotta buy the book or deal with the (truly excellent at times but always boring) help. If you can just say "Hey, do this" and be told what the proper command is, that goes a long way toward being able to learn the language. If there's a negative about most programming languages, it's that if you haven't had any formal training it can be a real pain to figure out the quirks.

Re:The same as Alpha? Not impressed....

[FrootLoops]

This headline and "article" is another effing Slashdot sponsored advertisement.

I find it more interesting than the other current headlines. Slashvertisement and news aren't necessarily distinct, depending on the crowd.