After some time searching for the best programming language for my projects, I wondered: is there a programming language that does not use any English keyword? Of course, the short answer is no, but where do all the other non-English-based programming languages hide? How did we end up using that idiom for writing code? Let’s explore these questions during this talk!

1. Are all programming
languages in English?
Michele Riva
Senior Software Architect @NearForm

2. Michele Riva
Senior Software Architect @NearForm
Google Developer Expert
Microsoft MVP
MicheleRivaCode

4. MicheleRivaCode
A bit of history

5. MicheleRivaCode
Konrad Zuse

6. MicheleRivaCode
Plankalkül
R1.1(V0[:sig]) => R0
R1.2(V0[:m x sig]) => R0
0 => i | m + 1 => j
[W [ i < j -> [ R1.1(V0[i: m x sig]) => R0 | i + 1 => i ] ] ]
END
R1.3() => R0
'H';'e';'l';'l';'o';',';' ','w';'o';'r';'l';'d';'!' => Z0[: m x sig] R1.2(Z0) => R0
END
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7. MicheleRivaCode
Flow-Matic
1955 circa

8. MicheleRivaCode
Flow-Matic
(0) INPUT INVENTORY FILE-A PRICE FILE-B ; OUTPUT PRICED-INV FILE-C UNPRICED-INV
FILE-D ; HSP D .
(1) COMPARE PRODUCT-NO (A) WITH PRODUCT-NO (B) ; IF GREATER GO TO OPERATION 10 ;
IF EQUAL GO TO OPERATION 5 ; OTHERWISE GO TO OPERATION 2 .
(2) TRANSFER A TO D .
(3) WRITE-ITEM D .
(4) JUMP TO OPERATION 8 .
(5) TRANSFER A TO C .
(6) MOVE UNIT-PRICE (B) TO UNIT-PRICE (C) .
(7) WRITE-ITEM C .
(8) READ-ITEM A ; IF END OF DATA GO TO OPERATION 14 .
(9) JUMP TO OPERATION 1 .
(10) READ-ITEM B ; IF END OF DATA GO TO OPERATION 12 .
(11) JUMP TO OPERATION 1 .
(12) SET OPERATION 9 TO GO TO OPERATION 2 .
(13) JUMP TO OPERATION 2 .
(14) TEST PRODUCT-NO (B) AGAINST ; IF EQUAL GO TO OPERATION 16 ;
OTHERWISE GO TO OPERATION 15 .
(15) REWIND B .
(16) CLOSE-OUT FILES C ; D .
(17) STOP . (END)
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9. MicheleRivaCode
COBOL
1957 circa

10. MicheleRivaCode
COBOL
//COBUCLG JOB (001),'COBOL BASE TEST', 00010000
// CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=A,MSGLEVEL=(1,1) 00020000
//BASETEST EXEC COBUCLG 00030000
//COB.SYSIN DD * 00040000
00000* VALIDATION OF BASE COBOL INSTALL 00050000
01000 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. 00060000
01100 PROGRAM-ID. 'HELLO'. 00070000
02000 ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. 00080000
02100 CONFIGURATION SECTION. 00090000
02110 SOURCE-COMPUTER. GNULINUX. 00100000
02120 OBJECT-COMPUTER. HERCULES. 00110000
02200 SPECIAL-NAMES. 00120000
02210 CONSOLE IS CONSL. 00130000
03000 DATA DIVISION. 00140000
04000 PROCEDURE DIVISION. 00150000
04100 00-MAIN. 00160000
04110 DISPLAY 'HELLO, WORLD' UPON CONSL. 00170000
04900 STOP RUN. 00180000
//LKED.SYSLIB DD DSNAME=SYS1.COBLIB,DISP=SHR 00190000
// DD DSNAME=SYS1.LINKLIB,DISP=SHR 00200000
//GO.SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=A 00210000
// 00220000
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11. MicheleRivaCode
Fortran
1957 circa

12. MicheleRivaCode
Fortran
program average
implicit none
real, dimension(:), allocatable :: points
integer :: number_of_points
real :: average_points, positive_average, negative_average
average_points = 0.0
positive_average = 0.0
negative_average = 0.0
write (*,*) "Input number of points to average:"
read (*,*) number_of_points
allocate (points(number_of_points))
write (*,*) "Enter the points to average:"
read (*,*) points
if (number_of_points > 0) average_points = sum(points) / number_of_points
if (count(points > 0.) > 0) positive_average = sum(points, points > 0.) / count(points > 0.)
if (count(points < 0.) > 0) negative_average = sum(points, points < 0.) / count(points < 0.)
write (*,'(a,g12.4)') 'Average = ', average_points
write (*,'(a,g12.4)') 'Average of positive points = ', positive_average
write (*,'(a,g12.4)') 'Average of negative points = ', negative_average
end program average
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13. MicheleRivaCode
LISP
1958 circa

14. MicheleRivaCode
LISP
(defun qsort (L)
(cond
((null L) nil)
(t
(append
(qsort (list< (car L) (cdr L)))
(cons (car L) nil)
(qsort (list>= (car L) (cdr L)))))))
(defun list< (a b)
(cond
((or (null a) (null b)) nil)
((< a (car b)) (list< a (cdr b)))
(t (cons (car b) (list< a (cdr b))))))
(defun list>= (a b)
(cond
((or (null a) (null b)) nil)
((>= a (car b)) (list>= a (cdr b)))
(t (cons (car b) (list>= a (cdr b))))))
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15. MicheleRivaCode
ALGOL
1958 circa

16. MicheleRivaCode
Edsger Dijkstra
1972
Niklaus Wirth
1984
Peter Naur
2005
Turing awards

17. MicheleRivaCode
Algol
procedure Absmax(a) Size:(n, m) Result:(y) Subscripts:(i, k);
value n, m; array a; integer n, m, i, k; real y;
comment The absolute greatest element of the matrix a, of size n by m
is transferred to y, and the subscripts of this element to i and k;
begin integer p, q;
y := 0; i := k := 1;
for p:=1 step 1 until n do
for q:=1 step 1 until m do
if abs(a[p, q]) > y then
begin y := abs(a[p, q]);
i := p; k := q
end
end Absmax
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18. MicheleRivaCode
Other important
languages

19. MicheleRivaCode
L←(Lι':')↓L←,L ⍝ drop To:
L←LJUST VTOM',',L ⍝ mat with one entry per row
S←¯1++/∧L≠'(' ⍝ length of address
X←0⌈⌈/S
L←S⌽(−(⍴L)+0,X)↑L ⍝ align the (names)
A←((1↑⍴L),X)↑L ⍝ address
N←0 1↓DLTB(0,X)↓L ⍝ (names)
N←,'⍺',N
N[(N='_')/ι⍴N]←' ' ⍝ change _ to blank
N←0 ¯1↓RJUST VTOM N ⍝ names
S←+/∧' '≠⌽N ⍝ length of last word in name
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APL
1962

20. MicheleRivaCode
Begin
Procedure RightText(T, N, FitsIn); Text T; Integer N;
Name FitsIn; Boolean FitsIn;
Begin
Integer I;
FitsIn := N >= T.Length;
For i:=1 step 1 until N-T.Length do OutText(" ");
OutText(T)
End of RightText;
RightText("Short", 30); OutImage;
RightText("And the long one", 30);
End of Program;
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Simula
1962

21. MicheleRivaCode
Max(Items, ValueFunction) = value of
§ (Best, BestVal) = (NIL, -∞)
while Items do §
(Item, Val) = (Head(Items), ValueFunction(Head(Items)))
if Val > BestVal then (Best, BestVal) := (Item, Val)
Items := Rest(Items) §
result is Best §
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CPL
1963

22. MicheleRivaCode
05 HOME : TEXT : REM Fibonacci numbers
10 LET MAX = 5000
20 LET X = 1 : LET Y = 1
30 IF (X > MAX) GOTO 100
40 PRINT X
50 X = X + Y
60 IF (Y > MAX) GOTO 100
70 PRINT Y
80 Y = X + Y
90 GOTO 30
100 END
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BASIC
1964

23. MicheleRivaCode
main() {
extrn putchar, n, v;
auto i, c, col, a;
i = col = 0;
while(i<n)
v[i++] = 1;
while(col<2*n) {
a = n+1;
c = i = 0;
while (i<n) {
c =+ v[i] *10;
v[i++] = c%a;
c =/ a--;
}
putchar(c+'0');
if(!(++col%5))
putchar(col%50?' ': '*n');
}
putchar('*n*n');
}
v[2000];
n 2000;
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B
1969

24. MicheleRivaCode
What makes these
languages so
important?

25. MicheleRivaCode
CPL + B =
The C programming
language
1972

26. MicheleRivaCode
C
1972
C++
1985
Java
1995
C#
2000
C influence

27. MicheleRivaCode
Scheme
1975
Caml
1985
Racket
1995
Clojure
2007
ML
1973
LISP influence

28. MicheleRivaCode
Pascal
1985
Simula
1962
Delphi
1995
ALGOL influence

29. MicheleRivaCode
Non-american languages

30. MicheleRivaCode
Simula
Kristen Nygaard
Ole-Johan Dahl

31. MicheleRivaCode
Pascal
Niklaus Wirth

32. MicheleRivaCode
Python
Guido Van Rossum

33. MicheleRivaCode
Yukihiro Matsumoto
Ruby

34. MicheleRivaCode
Elixir
José Valim

35. MicheleRivaCode
ML

36. MicheleRivaCode
Online Historical Encyclopaedia of
Programming Languages
8.900+ known programming languages
~2.500

37. MicheleRivaCode
Online Historical Encyclopaedia of
Programming Languages
8.900+ known programming languages
~2.500
~600

38. MicheleRivaCode
Online Historical Encyclopaedia of
Programming Languages
8.900+ known programming languages
~2.500
~600
~160

39. MicheleRivaCode
Online Historical Encyclopaedia of
Programming Languages
8.900+ known programming languages
~2.500
~600
~160
~75

40. MicheleRivaCode
Symbolic programming
languages

41. MicheleRivaCode
APL
'Hello, world'
1

42. MicheleRivaCode
APL
(~R∊R∘.×R)/R←1↓ιR
1

43. MicheleRivaCode
K
2_&{&/x!/:2_!x}'!R
1

44. MicheleRivaCode
J
quicksort=: (($:@(<#[), (=#[), $:@(>#[)) ({~ ?@#)) ^: (1<#)
1

45. MicheleRivaCode
Lambda Calculus
λf.(λx.(f(xx))λx.(f(xx)))
1

46. MicheleRivaCode
Prolog
partition([], _, [], []).
partition([X|Xs], Pivot, Smalls, Bigs) :-
( X @< Pivot ->
Smalls = [X|Rest],
partition(Xs, Pivot, Rest, Bigs)
; Bigs = [X|Rest],
partition(Xs, Pivot, Smalls, Rest)
).
quicksort([]) --> [].
quicksort([X|Xs]) -->
{ partition(Xs, X, Smaller, Bigger) },
quicksort(Smaller), [X], quicksort(Bigger).
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47. MicheleRivaCode
Esoteric Programming
Languages

48. MicheleRivaCode
Brainfuck
+[-[<<[+[--->]-[<<<]]]>>>-]>-.---.>..>.<<<<-.<+.>>>>>.>.<<.<-.
1

49. MicheleRivaCode
Choon
AGb-A#A#+A+%A#DF-AC#
1

50. MicheleRivaCode
Elang
"" .H .e .l .l .o ., ._ .w .o .r .l .d .! ()
1

51. MicheleRivaCode
Integ
](104)](101)](108)](108)](111)](44)](32)](119)](111)](114)](108)](100)](10)
1

52. MicheleRivaCode
Befunge
>>v
v1?2v
3
> > >: v
|-&<
$
>"!tcerroC">:v
|,<
@
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53. MicheleRivaCode
when would I typically
use these languages?

54. MicheleRivaCode
Sort numbers in a ragged list
https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/244101/sort-numbers-in-a-ragged-list
input: [[4, 7], [5, 3, [], [6, [2]]]
output: [[÷2, 3], [4, 5, [], [6, [7]]]]
FṢṁ
1
Jelly
N`d+
1
Retina
1N→_a`d+`?λ←_a1+→_a`d+`?Ẏ⌊s←_a iS;øṙ
1
Vyxal
n=>n.replace(r=/d+/g,_=>n.match(r).sort((a,b)=>a-b)[i++],i=0)
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JavaScript

55. MicheleRivaCode
Non-textual
programming
languages

56. MicheleRivaCode
Piet

57. MicheleRivaCode
Piet

58. MicheleRivaCode
Piet Mondrian

59. MicheleRivaCode
Whitespace

60. MicheleRivaCode
Whitespace
Tab Space

61. MicheleRivaCode
Velato

62. MicheleRivaCode
Non-English-based
programming
languages

63. MicheleRivaCode
Teuton
# for ~ fuer
# in ~ im
# range ~ intervall
# print ~ drucke
fuer i im intervall(9)[::-1]:
drucke i
# while ~ solange
# True ~ Wahr
# try ~ versuche
# except ~ ausser;
# ZeroDivisionError ~ NullDivisionsFehler
# return ~ zurueck
solange Wahr:
versuche:
1/0
ausser NullDivisionsFehler:
zurueck
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64. MicheleRivaCode
Linotte
BonjourLeMonde:
début
affiche "Bonjour le monde!"
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65. MicheleRivaCode
SAKO
K) PROGRAM DRUKUJE NAPIS HELLO WORLD
LINIA
TEKST:
HELLO WORLD
KONIEC
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System Automatycznego Kodowania Operacji

66. MicheleRivaCode
Rapira
ПРОЦ СТАРТ()
ВЫВОД: 'Привет, мир!'
КОН ПРОЦ
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67. MicheleRivaCode
ひまわり
「Hello, World!」と、表示。 ’⺟艦（メインフォーム）に表示。
「Hello, World!」と、⾔う。 ’ダイアログボックスで表示。
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Himawari

68. MicheleRivaCode
‫ﻗﻠب‬
("‫ﻋﺎﻟﻢ‬ ‫ﯾﺎ‬ ‫"ﻣﺮﺣﺒﺎ‬ ‫)ﻗﻮل‬
1
Qalb

69. MicheleRivaCode
易语⾔
公开 类 启动类
{
公开 静态 启动()
{
控制台.输出("你好，世界！");
}
}
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EPL (Easy Programming Language)

70. MicheleRivaCode
Bonus: CadregaLISP
$ ./brambilla
🍎 ▶ (ciapa x 5)
🍎 ▶ (+ x 10)
15
🍎 ▶ (ciapa-che! x 10)
🍎 ▶ (= x 5)
#è minga vera
🍎 ▶ fèrmes
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https://github.com/micheleriva/CadregaLisp

71. MicheleRivaCode

72. MicheleRivaCode
So, are all programming
languages in English?

73. MicheleRivaCode
nope!

74. MicheleRivaCode

75. MicheleRivaCode
/in/MicheleRiva95
@MicheleRivaCode
@MicheleRiva
www.micheleriva.dev