Emerging Languages Conference next week!

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Friday 23 July 2010 11:46:47 Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> It's always bugged me when people use the term "invent" in relaton to a
> programming language. It's like saying that a musician "invented" a song,
> or that Mark Twain "invented" a book. Wrong word.

Actully, I believe that invent _is_ the right word here. You write a book or a 
song. With a book or a song, you're actually physically writing something (well, 
in the past anyway - now it may be typing or involve a mouse, but people used 
pen and paper before). With a computer program, you are again writing it (again 
likely typing it, but for pretty much the same reasons, the word write applies). 
However, a programming _language_ is a tool, not something that you write with 
pen and paper. Tools aren't written. They're invented. So, a programming 
language is invented, not written. The compiler itself - being a program - is 
written, but the language itself is invented.

- Jonathan M Davis