Originally published on eve.gd on 23 August 2021, last updated 6 September 2026.
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I asked on Twitter for where to start on considering programming languages as languages. Here are some of the best recommendations:
where to start on considering programming languages as languages
https://doi.org/10.1086/709225
https://doi.org/10.1086/427305
https://doi.org/10.1353/con.0.0064
https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2104716/149299_main.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2014.0031
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60661-8
https://esoteric.codes/blog/jon-corbett
http://www.wall.org/~larry/pm.html
The work of Yorick Wilks may also be of interest. The Esoteric Codes project that I learned about from this thread is also excellent!
Yorick Wilks
Esoteric Codes project
With many thanks to everyone who contributed.
This reference list has been generated, in many cases, through an automated process and may therefore contain errors or incomplete metadata. It is provided purely as assistance for finding the items mentioned within this post.
1. Binder, Jeffrey M., ‘Romantic Disciplinarity and the Rise of the Algorithm’, Critical Inquiry, University of Chicago Press, 1 June 2020 <https://doi.org/10.1086/709225>
2. Chartier, Roger, ‘Languages, Books, and Reading from the Printed Word to the Digital Text’, Critical Inquiry, University of Chicago Press, September 2004 <https://doi.org/10.1086/427305>
3. Chun, Wendy Hui Kyong, ‘On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish’, Configurations, Project MUSE, September 2008 <https://doi.org/10.1353/con.0.0064>
4. Eve, Martin Paul, ‘Martin Paul Eve (@martin_eve) on X’, X, 22 August 2021 <https://twitter.com/martin_eve/status/1429415082199502852>
5. Gobbo and Durnova, From Universal to Programming Languages <https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2104716/149299_main.pdf>
6. Nofre, David, Mark Priestley, and Gerard Alberts, ‘When Technology Became Language: The Origins of the Linguistic Conception of Computer Programming, 1950–1960’, Technology and Culture, Project MUSE, January 2014 <https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2014.0031>
7. Prat, Chantel S., Tara M. Madhyastha, Malayka J. Mottarella, and Chu-Hsuan Kuo, ‘Relating Natural Language Aptitude to Individual Differences in Learning Programming Languages’, Scientific Reports, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2 March 2020 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60661-8>
8. Temkin, Daniel, ‘Interview with Jon Corbett’, Esoteric.Codes, 30 March 2021 <https://esoteric.codes/blog/jon-corbett>
9. Temkin, Daniel, Esoteric.Codes <https://esoteric.codes/>
10. ‘Yorick Wilks’, Google Scholar <https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NsHFYDcAAAAJ&hl=en>
https://doi.org/10.1086/709225
https://doi.org/10.1086/427305
https://doi.org/10.1353/con.0.0064
https://twitter.com/martin_eve/status/1429415082199502852
https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2104716/149299_main.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2014.0031
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60661-8
https://esoteric.codes/blog/jon-corbett
https://esoteric.codes/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NsHFYDcAAAAJ&hl=en