Programming as Theory Building
Programming as Theory Building by Peter Naurby Peter Naur
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 60 articles
Recommended for framing software development as building a shared mental theory of the system rather than producing code; people say it stays relevant.
Recommended for framing software development as building a shared mental theory of the system rather than producing code; people say it stays relevant.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 32
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 32 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Theory lives in people's heads, not code
“His argument was that the real program was the theory, and the translation of the theory into code was lossy.”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Install.md: A standard for LLM-executable installation” “basically the code+docs cannot replace the richer in-human-heads ideas for what the real-world problem is”
Comment from 4 May 2026 in “Agentic Coding Is a Trap” “The important thing is not the code itself but your mental model of the software you're building.”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Read Programming as Theory Building” - Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “You can't design software you don't work on”
- Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Why Write Code in 2026”
Still relevant, especially now
“more relevant today than ever, especially as we move into the era of autonomous agents”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Programming as Theory Building [pdf]” “Every day Peter Naur's paper programming as theory building gets more relevant”
Comment from 26 Apr 2026 in “The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting How to Code” “it still feels relevant and closer to how the activity feels to me”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “The rise of industrial software” - Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “Automation Without Understanding”
Foundational classic worth rereading
“one of the most foundational and profound papers ever written about software development”
Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “The recurring dream of replacing developers” “I think more people should read Naur's "programming as theory building".”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “Using LLMs at Oxide” “great foundational ideas are always worth repeating and revisiting”
Comment from 16 Jan 2026 in “The five orders of ignorance (2000)” - Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Mythical Man Month”
Sticks with readers, changes thinking
“It's fundamentally changed the way I think about software.”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Ask HN: What does "legacy code" mean to you?” “"Programming as theory building" still undefeated.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “The Learning Loop and LLMs” “which I haven't been able to stop thinking about”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why senior developers fail to communicate their expertise” - Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Programming as Theory Building (1985) [pdf]”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter NaurThis page | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Right to Read by Richard Stallman | 12 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
25 of the 34 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“why the code itself isn't enough to understand the whole context of a complex project”
“classics that are relevant now more than ever”
“I bet you will enjoy it a lot.”
“This is a gem, I'm glad I read the whole thing.”
“which I haven't been able to stop thinking about”
“The important thing is not the code itself but your mental model of the software you're building.”
“The only reason I recommend this paper is because I encounter so many people that have a very myopic view of the software”
“more relevant today than ever, especially as we move into the era of autonomous agents”
“Another classic required reading of the industry”
“I'm consistently surprised by how many "software engineers" I've worked with have never read Naur's paper”
“Great reference and I agree.”
“basically the code+docs cannot replace the richer in-human-heads ideas for what the real-world problem is”
“Every day Peter Naur's paper programming as theory building gets more relevant”
“I like the author's proposed "Comprehension coverage" metric. It aligns well with Naur's Programming as Theory Building.”
“+1 on programming as theory building”
“one of the most foundational and profound papers ever written about software development”
“His argument was that the real program was the theory, and the translation of the theory into code was lossy.”
“great foundational ideas are always worth repeating and revisiting”
“it still feels relevant and closer to how the activity feels to me”
“A good explanation is found in Naur's Theory of Programming”
“the true knowledge of the system is inside the head of the engineers that worked on it”
“I think more people should read Naur's "programming as theory building".”
“to remind us that writing meaningful commit messages is essential insofar as it is the discipline that confirms and preserves the intellectual "theory" of our work”
“It's fundamentally changed the way I think about software.”
“"Programming as theory building" still undefeated.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.