قلب | a non ascii programming language that uses arabic script (nas.sr)
from ericjmorey@programming.dev to programming_languages@programming.dev on 19 Nov 2023 21:56
https://programming.dev/post/6121915

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/8198886

Github: github.com/nasser/---

Hello world:

‫(قول "مرحبا يا عالم!")

#programming_languages

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ericjmorey@programming.dev on 19 Nov 2023 22:31 next collapse

From the README.md:

The قلب Programming Language

‫قلب‬ is a simple, Scheme-like programming language that you code entirely in Arabic. It is an exploration of the impact of human culture on computer science, the role of tradition in software engineering, and the connection between natural and computer languages

qwertyasdef@programming.dev on 19 Nov 2023 22:44 collapse

As someone who knows very little about Scheme or Arabic, what are some aspects of this language that might be novel or interesting to someone with a background in mainstream languages?

ericjmorey@programming.dev on 20 Nov 2023 02:02 collapse

Try to create a hello world program with it.

qwertyasdef@programming.dev on 20 Nov 2023 17:16 collapse

Going by the example in the Github, it looks like a right-to-left Lisp with Arabic keywords. Does that fully describe the language or is there more to it than that?

I’d be interested in hearing about the parts that are more influenced by Arabic than Scheme. Are there any beyond the keyword language and writing direction? Like a new keyword that does something useful but has no equivalent in Scheme because the concept isn’t easily expressed by an English keyword?

ericjmorey@programming.dev on 20 Nov 2023 18:15 collapse

It’s a demonstration of the cultural assumptions that are made in the implementations of the tech ecosystem. A major difference is ascii is insufficient for its use. Requiring unicode breaks a lot of assumptions; even github fails with it.

PS this isn’t my project. I’m only relaying my own experience with it.