Computers need programming languages to function. That’s just a simple fact of life. However, these languages didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. They were developed by people for explicit purposes.

Open-ended, community based, and collaborative, “esolangs” serve as a reminder that digital art has other histories and other futures. Matthias Lutter, “helloworld-pietbig.gif.” This is a Piet program ...

How do programming languages get created, and what goes into design decisions? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better ...

Every month or so, computer scientist Ramsey Nasser gets a desperate email from the Arabic world, or sometimes China, or Russia, asking for his help. They want to know more about Qlb — pronounced ...

Louis Brandy pauses before answering, needing some extra time to choose his words. “I’m going to get in so much trouble,” he says. The question, you see, touches on an eternally controversial topic: ...