Re: Have we reached the asymptotic plateau of innovation in programming languages

Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> writes:


> The biggest problem with going outside of ASCII is that keyboard
> support stops being universal, with the lesser issue of character set
> proliferation. The standard alphanumeric ASCII characters (and most of
> the standard punctuation characters, though some get hard to type
> IIRC) are on pretty much every keyboard attached to a modernish
> computer.


Even with ASCII, keyboard support is not as universal as you may
believe. The characters [, ], {, }, ~, ^ and \ are placed in an
annoying way on the Icelandic layout.


You need to press right alt (Alt Gr) and press 7, 8, 9, 0 and other keys
on the right side. Basically, you need to leave the typing position and
move your right hand in unusual ways to achieve the combination. Using
the left hand to press the key while holding Alt Gr is even slower.


> Beyond that, you have issues: people in the US typically don't have
> easy access to even basic accented Latin characters like [e with an
> accent, which the moderation software smashed -John] (Which, on this
> keyboard, required an Alt+numpad combo, necessitating both memorizing
> the Unicode value and enabling/disabling the numpad)


Which is why I pointed out keyboard redefinition to potential language
researchers.


>>> Another limiting factor, not readily apparent to North Americans:
>>> the English language. Most, if not all, programming languages
>>> applied world wide are based on English, with keywords in English.


>> I have wondered about this for many years. I have asked people whose
>> native language isn't English, but it doesn't seem to bother them at
>> all. Of course if I ask them, it is likely that they speak enough
>> English not to see much of a problem.


I don't mind programming in English, I do it all the time. However if I
were to program in some other language, say Icelandic in an Icelandic
programming language, I expect to be able to use word changes as
dictated by the grammar.


Example in C++ & Java. Given an object Hulda (a fairly common given
name) I'd want to


    throw Huldu;


for grammatical consistency with Icelandic. And I'd like to use "kasta"
instead of "throw" of course.


        If you're asking why we would ever want a language where names and
        nouns change according to context the answer is simple: It allows
        shorter sentences. An introductory tutorial on Latin will
        demonstrate this adequately.


A programming language that allows for word changes according to natural
language grammar? That's something to study.


                                                                  <><><>


Another point to make. Why do we assign from right to left? Is it in
any way natural? What's wrong with


    a + b --> c "a plus b assigned to c"


instead of


    c <-- a + b "c becomes a + b?"


The more I think about it, I believe the former construct is a bit more
natural since we read from left to right. However, I'd want to see or
work on a non-trivial project in such a language to make up my mind.


For an Arabic programming language, all bets are off.


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      Johann Oskarsson http://www.2ndquadrant.com/ |[]
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