[csjh]

> High level languages lack something that low level languages have in great adundance - intent.

Is this line really true? I feel like expressing intent isn't really a factor in the high level / low level spectrum. If anything, more ways of expressing intent in more detail should contribute towards them being higher level.

[wk_end]

I agree with you and would go further: the fundamental difference between high-level and low-level languages is that in high-level languages you express intent whereas in low-level languages you are stuck resorting to expressing underlying mechanisms.

[jeroenhd]

I think this isn't referring to intent as in "calculate the tax rate for this purchase" but rather "shift this byte three positions to the left". Less about what you're trying to accomplish, and more about what you're trying to make the machine do.

Something like purchase.calculate_tax().await.map_err(|e| TaxCalculationError { source: e })?; is full of intent, but you have no idea what kind of machine code you're going to end up with.

[raincole]

In other words, high-level languages express high-level intents, while low-level languages express low-level intents.

In yet other words, tautology.

[csjh]

Maybe, but from the author's description, it seems like the interpretation of intent that they want is to generally give the most information possible to the compiler, so it can do its thing. I don't see why the right high level language couldn't give the compiler plenty of leeway to optimize.