极客：第一种并非为人类构建的编程语言

极客：第一种并非为人类构建的编程语言
Nerd: A language for LLMs, not humans

## 代码的未来：超越人类可读性随着LLM现在编写了40%的代码且比例不断上升，一个关键问题出现了：为什么我们要求AI为*我们*编写代码，而我们却不能完全阅读它？作者提出**NERD（无需努力，完成）**，一种针对AI而非人类优化的编码范式。 NERD利用LLM处理自然语言的效率，使用类似于英语的密集语法，而不是传统的、符号密集的代码（TypeScript、Java等）。这大大减少了token数量（示例中最多减少67%）——降低了成本并实现了更快的处理速度。工作流程将人类转变为利益相关者角色：定义意图、观察结果和提供高级反馈。调试发生在抽象层，类似于不调试字节码。可审计性问题通过翻译视图来解决，提供对代码逻辑的纯英文解释。作者认为，在未来五年内，大多数生产代码将不会由人类编写，这将使当前像TypeScript这样的语言在AI驱动的开发中变得过时。NERD是一个实际的实验，一个用C语言构建的编译器，旨在展示这个未来。

## NERD：一种为机器而非人类设计的语言一种名为NERD（nerd-lang.org）的新编程语言正在开发中，其前提独特：如果编程语言不是为人类可读性设计的会怎样？其创建者响应于机器编写代码日益普及（根据他们的观察，目前为40%），旨在创建一个针对LLM优化的中间语言。 NERD有一个可用的引导编译器，可以通过LLVM输出本机代码，但仍处于早期阶段。该项目探索了优先考虑机器效率而非人类理解的想法，引发了关于安全性、可审计性和LLM在语言设计本身中的作用的讨论。虽然许多现有语言并非“对人类友好”（例如汇编语言），但NERD专门针对LLM的消耗和生成，可能导致一种不同于传统语言结构和标记化的方法。该项目是开源的，欢迎贡献者。

The Question

40% of code is now written by LLMs. That number is growing.

I was using Claude Code, watching it generate TypeScript. A thought hit me:

Why is Claude writing code that I'm supposed to read?

I wasn't going to read it line-by-line. I'd skim it, run the tests. So why make AI write in a format optimized for human readers who aren't reading?

The Stack

1950s: Machine code
1960s: Assembly
1970s: C
1980s: C++
1990s: Java, Python
2000s: Frameworks
2020s: AI writes, humans review

Each step made it easier for humans to express intent. But now AI is the primary author. AI doesn't need public static void main.

The Insight

LLMs tokenize English words efficiently. Symbols like {, }, === fragment into multiple tokens. Words like "plus", "minus", "if" are single tokens.

So instead of cryptic compression, use dense English.

The Design

NERD = No Effort Required, Done

Not human-friendly: dense, terse, machine-optimized
Human-observable: auditable, verifiable
50-70% fewer tokens: same logic, less cost
Native compilation: LLVM, no runtime

The Result

fn add a b
ret a plus b

fn calc a b op
if op eq zero ret ok a plus b
if op eq one ret ok a minus b
ret err "unknown"

67% fewer tokens than TypeScript. Same functionality.

The Workflow

Human: "Add rate limiting"
  |
LLM writes NERD
  |
Compiles to native
  |
Human observes (read-only)
  |
Human: "Make it 100 req/min"
  |
LLM modifies NERD

Humans are stakeholders, not authors.

The Objections

"But I need to debug!"

Do you debug JVM bytecode? V8's internals? No. You debug at your abstraction layer. If that layer is natural language, debugging becomes: "Hey Claude, the login is failing for users with + in their email."

"Compliance requires readable code!"

Auditable != authored by humans. A translated view can show data flow, constraints, security measures, in plain English. More auditable than 2am spaghetti code.

The Bet

In five years, most production code won't be human-written. When that happens, TypeScript will feel like asking Claude to write in Latin.

NERD is what source code becomes when humans stop pretending they need to write it.

The Disclaimer

This could be wrong. Maybe humans will always want to edit code directly. Maybe 40% plateaus. NERD is an experiment: a bootstrap compiler in C, compiling to LLVM IR, no dependencies.

If the answer is interesting, great. If not, it was worth exploring.