Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by hidden80 on Monday June 05, 2023 @02:42PM
(#36201043)
- Me
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by all2 on Monday June 05, 2023 @04:29PM
(#36203128)
I had to change the scope of my desires. I don't want to make the next Python. Not even the next Zig or Nim. I just like fiddling with compilers and interpreters. Someone else mentioned Crafting Interpreters and I'll bring it up, too. I've been following along in C# and occasionally come back to my C#Lox implementation and work through another chapter. It is quite a lot of fun.
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by PartiallyTyped on Monday June 05, 2023 @05:10PM
(#36203625)
I am on a similar path, I am super fascinated with type theory and I want to test / implement stuff.
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by simplify on Monday June 05, 2023 @04:53PM
(#36203443)
Progress is always made by those with an optimal amount of ignorance :)
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by feoren on Monday June 05, 2023 @05:07PM
(#36203584)
I came here to say "can we worry about building programming languages in twenty-four years instead, please?". Someone who has gone through your list is exactly who I want actually building the next generation programming languages. Of course your last question is the best one:
> eh, why bother
This is absolutely the question you need a deep answer for. You need a problem that is burning you up and whose only solution is a new programming language. This might never happen. If it ever does, you're the person to do it, exactly because of all the ups and downs and half-started ideas you've thrown away. But you're right: the "why bother" stage is not to be ignored. It's the most important one.
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by User23 on Monday June 05, 2023 @06:24PM
(#36204926)
> - eh, why bother
Because you will learn a ton and become a better programmer for it.
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by StingyJelly on Monday June 05, 2023 @06:37PM
(#36205113)
- e̶h̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶
- yolo
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by mhh__ on Monday June 05, 2023 @07:24PM
(#36205766)
Some things do need PhDs but some smarts and a bit of vision can get you an extremely long way.
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by 13of40 on Monday June 05, 2023 @07:59PM
(#36206149)
I implemented VBA in C# a few years ago for malware analysis, and my takeaway is...well, it's a hard project. Possibly as hard as I've ever done, but a big part of that was guaranteeing bug-for-bug and type conversion compatibility and obscure language features that nobody would include today. I can't even fathom how the old folks implemented BASIC in 256 bytes of 8-bit assembly back in the day.
Re:Building a Programming Language in Twenty-Four Hours
by fungiblecog on Monday June 05, 2023 @08:12PM
(#36206295)
try mal instead. all the fun and much less frustration
- Be armchair-interested in programming languages
- Take some PL-whatever courses in college
- Read about PLs
- Read about progressively niche PL stuff…
- Get idealistic (get ideas)
- Read about the grueling design process of useful-in-the-real-world languages
- Eventually realize that There Are Always Tradeoffs
- Realize that the Tradeoffs are like two thousand parameters that might interact in super-weird and non-obvious ways
- Realize that a dozen super-competent PhD-wielders and multi-decade practitioners can easily spend a decade on developing the core of a language
- eh, why bother