> I can't see any issue with representing logic abstractly with symbols.
That's the problem: text isn't abstract enough. So we put some of the text into little blobs that have names (other methods), and use those names instead, and we call that "abstraction," but black-box abstraction doesn't help us see. The symbols in calculus, by contrast, are symbols that help you see. The OA is calling for abstractions over operating a computer that help us see.
Agree. There is must be more abstract way to present ideas than text. In this way, programs are easier to understand and modification, and have less errors and bugs.
I am suspicious. I think it would certainly be easier in some ways for rank beginners- it would make spelling errors and certain classes of syntax errors impossible- but those aren't really the bugs that cause experienced programmers grief. It's generally subtly bad logic, which is more about how people are terrible. Plus, we already know how to create computer languages that largely avoid those problems.
Written language is wonderful in many respects, and I sometimes thing people discount these things out of familiarity. Keyboards too- you can do things very quickly and very precisely with keyboards. Those things matter for your sense of productivity and satisfaction.
That's the problem: text isn't abstract enough. So we put some of the text into little blobs that have names (other methods), and use those names instead, and we call that "abstraction," but black-box abstraction doesn't help us see. The symbols in calculus, by contrast, are symbols that help you see. The OA is calling for abstractions over operating a computer that help us see.