Tom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Fri, Oct 17, 2003 at 02:01:24PM -0500, Ron Johnson wrote: > > On Fri, 2003-10-17 at 12:29, Monique Y. Herman wrote: > > > On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 at 11:15 GMT, Tom penned: > > > > [OT, sorry -- but question is obscure, will be hard to google] > > > > > > > > Are any non-english-speaking readers aware of High-level programming > > > > languages using non-English syntax? Like, could I find a French C > > > > compiler that uses "pour" instead of "for" and "si" instead of "if"? > > [snip] > > > You're right; the anglo-centric nature of most programming languages is > > > distressing. It would be fun to code in a language based on a totally > > > > Distressing???????? What an over-reaction. > > > > Guess what? When French/German/Chinese/Spanish/Portuguese/Japanese > > Computer Scientists decide to write a programming language in their > > own native language, there will be programming languages in those > > languages. But then, why did Niklaus Wirth use English key words, > > even though he is Swiss/German?
I know, there was a swedish version of basic around in the 70s-80s timeframe. Other places would have had similar things. I expect the russians had some russian/cyrillic based thing. > Okay, I started this OT thread, I'll try to end it. > > *I was interested in languages with alternate semantics, not just > alternate syntax. > > *20 years ago I read an article comparing programming languages with the > nationality of the author. (Pascal->Wirth->German: highly structured > syntax. C->Americans: fast and loose, 20 ways to say the same thing.) > You can say in Latin in 7 words what takes 11 words to say in English. > Chinese can be incredibly terse (e.g., ancient chinese business > documents) or incredbily expressive (e.e., chinese poetry), so that > might make an interesting programming language. > > *Most westerns think in Subject-Predicate terms; i.e., the subject is > primary, the predicate modifies it, so we all have Object.Method > languages. Cherokee indians use Predicate-Subject; predicate is the > central term, subject modifies it, like functional languages. > > But all of this is terribly OT for the thread, so let it die. Thanks to > all who answered. Have you tried Common-Lisp? I found it to be very different from the other languages I know, C, matlab, pascal, basic, fortran &c. Even though I don't use it much for my work, learning Lisp was mind expanding. -- Johan KULLSTAM -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
