i read about this here one time but i don't fully understand it nor the implications, not being a coder.
a spec is a written, detailed, normal language description of how the protocol works, is that correct? wouldn't the current developer's guide qualify as something similar?
where as the code is what actually executes within the operating system and carries out the protocol rules?
and why NL, do you believe it would've prevented what we have going on now?
The Bitcoin Core is in such bad shape that fully specifying its behaviour is indistinguishable from impossible.
You could say this is Satoshi's fault. What we now call Bitcoin Core started out life as a prototype and evolved into its present condition - it is not an engineered piece of software.
I think the best course of action would be to acknowledge that the prototype has served its purpose and retire it in favour of treating a non-prototype codebase as the reference implementation for which a specification can be written.
Doing that would have the beneficial effect of increasing the number of developers who can participate, since the reference would be more understandable and better documented.