And we're about to release Español Llano, the Spanish version of Plain English. This new compiler compiles Spanish and English. Or both, even in the same sentence. Kind of like a bi-lingual human.
Our Plain English development system - unique interface, simple file manager, elegant text editor, hexadecimal dumper, native-code-generating compiler/linker, and wysiwyg page layout facility (for documentation) - 25,000 sentences, is hardly a trivial application. Yet we wrote it, conveniently and efficiently, entirely in Plain English. And the "ambiguity" of the language actually helped.
In Plain English you can, for example, say "Clear the screen" or "Erase the screen" or other similar phrases and still get the same result. So we could type our thoughts the way we happened to be thinking them at the moment, and didn't have to remember (or look up) the exact syntax of the routines we wanted to call.
The instruction manual is here:
www.osmosian.com/instructions.pdf
And the whole shebang (less than a megabyte!) is here:
www.osmosian.com/cal-4700.zip
Just download and unzip. No installation necessary. Exactly the same on any version of Windows from XP to 10.
Please address questions and comments directly to me:
Yes, our compiler is Windows only and generates native machine code for Intel x86 architecture. It looks and feels the same on any Windows version from XP to 10.
The false positives that some virus programs return are typically due to the fact that our executable is different that what they expect. Specifically, it doesn't have all the unnecessary crap that typical compilers churn out -- only what's essential, and nothing more. Some programs also object to files with no extension (like .txt or .src). We left these off since they're not very English-like.
There are other methods of development besides "crowd coding"; for our purposes, we feel they are superior. A friend of mine disagreed and with my permission (but over my objections) started a GitHub project using our source code. The project is here:
In the meantime it should be noted that lots of people take our work seriously. Here are some unsolicited remarks we've received from folks who have written us directly:
"A minor work of genius" - Aaron Gray
"Well I love it!!! Very very unique... Are you looking for an investor?" - Anthony Nystrom
"Good lord, that has got to be one of the strangest things I've ever seen... It certainly has some merit, as you can describe what you want to do 'naturally'. I'll keep playing with it." - Marc Clifton
"Interesting; the source code is easy to read" - Peter Norvig
"It looks like an interesting tool for those stuck in Gatesburg." - Neil Freeman
"Thanks Sir. People like you are giving different view to whole thing. Best Luck." - Vijay Sambhe
"If I ever were to use it seriously I would definitely contribute to your project; at this point I was only allaying my curiosity." - Paul van der Walt
"The interface is pretty cool and would work well for a quite a few apps... All in all a good job... I can see a great market for beginner programmers trying to understand concepts" - Andrew Bleakley
"I have to say I'm quite impressed... keep up the good work!" - Ian Harrigan
"What a wonderful piece of work... the concept is noble, the execution brilliant, the whole thing is quirky and brilliant" - Joe Cherian
"I do like the font and the simplicity." - Edbert P.
"A very unique idea." - Dan Pronovost
"Interesting." - Chris Austin
"Thats a pretty cool thing you have produced." - Chris Meech
"May I know which font do you use. It’s very beautiful." - Weixiao Fan
"I've seen the sourcecode and it's nothing short of impressive." - elShoggotho
"I am really enjoying my experience with the Plain English compiler. The programs look like well-documented code without the code." - Joel Ashford
"The demo says a lot about the project and I was amazed by it." - V. Girish
"Your manifesto is bang on target and you are right about the fact that we won't go far using traditional approaches." - V. Girish
"I think your work is not so much a 'minor work of genius' as it is a major work of genius. Don't stop." - Paul Frenger
"If that source code was indeed used to create the [sample program] executable, it is indeed pretty impressive." - Nishant Sivakumar
"Frankly, [Gerry's] the only person I know who's achieved what he has on his own power, dime and time. It's truly a lifetime achievement." - Rex A. Winn, Jr.
"While it's definitely a niche market, the work he has done with it is truly amazing." - Pete O'Hanlon
"I respect him a lot, he truly is a living legend. There is so much to learn from him. I won't be surprised if tomorrow he is nominated for a noble prize and get it." - Rajesh Lal (Quartz)
"I read his document, which talks about his ideas and approach of taking his language to next level and was impressed. I support him and respect him for his language." - Tarakeshwar Reddy
"I've been using the Plain English language for a couple of weeks now and I must say that it is precisely what I was looking for... I don't need to worry about fighting any needless battles and I can just get on with programming." - Martin Pollard
"An astonishing work, genius! I was looking for something like this for many years. In addition, the Cal-3040 produces fast code. Congratulations! Keep it up. PS: Now I have 'deprogram' my thinking when writing code. I'll have to relearn how to think normally!" - Antonio Navarro Andreu
