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The Next Big Language
I read an interesting blog post tonight, and it looks like I've found a blog that is my cup of tea. A guy who's really interested in programming languages and has lots of commentary.
The post about NBL (the fabled "Next Big Language") was interesting. Part of what got my attention was the assertation that basically everyone who attempts to create NBL "will almost certainly fail". And he's right.
But that shouldn't discourage people, because the point of developing a programming language shouldn't be to create NBL -- at the very most, it should be to develop new ideas, which some day have an impact on a later NBL. Here are some of my reasons for developing a programming language:
1. | Love: For me, it's because it's something that is a lot of fun. It's mostly the journey, not the destination, that makes it worth while. |
2. | Ideas: The impetus for creating a new language should be giving your ideas a place to grow and flurish. Creating NBL is less about new ideas and more about "not sucking", which means your language has to adhere to a long list of qualities which involves many thousands of hours of work. |
3. | Personality: We're all different, and part of life is finding ways to express what makes you uniquely you. The point of writing a book isn't to create "the best book ever", it's to give your inner voice a medium to express itself, to make something that is unique and beautiful, and representative of who you were made to be. That's not unlike authoring a programming language. | |
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