قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic (nas.sr)

Article summary

The article discusses قلب, a programming language written entirely in Arabic, which aims to explore the role of human culture in coding and challenge the cultural biases of computer science. The language is implemented as a tree-walking language interpreter in JavaScript and includes a calligraphy series that treats algorithms as high poetry. The project highlights the dominance of the ASCII character set and Latin characters in modern programming tools. The article also mentions the project's history, features, and reception.

Main themes

• non-ASCII programming languages
• cultural bias in computer science
• Unicode support in programming languages
• localized programming languages
• programming language design
• cultural diversity in tech
• art and programming
• technical challenges of non-English languages

What commenters say

• Some programming languages, such as Scala, already support Unicode characters in identifiers, making the concept of a non-ASCII programming language less novel.
• Localized programming languages may not be as useful as they seem, as programmers can learn to code regardless of the language's keywords.
• The use of non-English keywords in programming languages can create problems, such as difficulties in finding support and collaborating with others.
• The idea of a non-English programming language is not new, with examples of languages like 1C in Russia and WLangage in France.
• The cultural bias in programming languages is a significant issue that needs to be addressed, and projects like قلب can help raise awareness about it.
• The use of Unicode characters in programming languages can introduce security risks if not implemented properly.
• The concept of a programming language as an art project can be seen as dismissive of the project's technical value.
• The localization of programming languages can be problematic, as it may not always be possible to translate keywords and concepts accurately.
• The dominance of English in programming is not only due to the language itself but also due to the lack of support and resources for non-English languages.