An esoteric programming language (sometimes shortened to esolang) is a programming language designed to test the boundaries of computer programming language design, as a proof of concept, as software art, as a hacking interface to another language (particularly functional programming or procedural programming languages), or as a joke. The use of the word esoteric distinguishes them from languages that working developers use to write software. The creators of most esolangs do not intend them to be used for mainstream programming, although some esoteric features, such as visuospatial syntax,[1] have inspired practical applications in the arts. Such languages are often popular among hackers and hobbyists.[citation needed]
Usability is rarely a goal for designers of esoteric programming languages; often their design leads to quite the opposite. Their usual aim is to remove or replace conventional language features while still maintaining a language that is Turing-complete, or even one for which the computational class is unknown.
^McLean, A., Griffiths, D., Collins, N., and Wiggins, G. (2010). "Visualisation of Live Code". In Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, London: 2010.
and 19 Related for: Esoteric programming language information
An esotericprogramminglanguage (sometimes shortened to esolang) is a programminglanguage designed to test the boundaries of computer programming language...
notable programminglanguages, grouped by type. There is no overarching classification scheme for programminglanguages. Thus, in many cases, a language is...
Shakespeare ProgrammingLanguage (SPL) is an esotericprogramminglanguage designed by Jon Åslund and Karl Wiberg. Like the Chef programminglanguage, it is...
Malbolge (/mælˈboʊldʒ/) is a public domain esotericprogramminglanguage invented by Ben Olmstead in 1998, named after the eighth circle of hell in Dante's...
index to notable programminglanguages, in current or historical use. Dialects of BASIC, esotericprogramminglanguages, and markup languages are not included...
concatenative imperative programminglanguage using reverse polish notation. FALSE is a minimalist esotericprogramminglanguage, with a complete implementation...
3D graphics programming Ixi lang, a programminglanguage for live coding musical expression. JFugue, a Java and JVM library for programming music that...
two-dimensional stack-based, reflective, esotericprogramminglanguage. It differs from conventional languages in that programs are arranged on a two-dimensional...
The Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym (INTERCAL) is an esotericprogramminglanguage that was created as a parody by Don Woods and James...
LOLCODE is an esotericprogramminglanguage inspired by lolspeak, the language expressed in examples of the lolcat Internet meme. The language was created...
also be considered minimalist computer programminglanguages, or Turing tarpits, esotericprogramminglanguages designed to be as small as possible but...
syntax of lolcat captions was used as the basis for LOLCODE, an esotericprogramminglanguage with interpreters and compilers available in .NET Framework...
computing, a visual programminglanguage (visual programming system, VPL, or, VPS), also known as diagrammatic programming, graphical programming or block coding...
Procedural programming is a programming paradigm, classified as imperative programming, that involves implementing the behavior of a computer program as procedures...
[clarification needed] As an esotericprogramminglanguage, Unlambda is meant as a demonstration of very pure functional programming rather than for practical...
but locally unused radio frequencies Whitespace (programminglanguage), an esotericprogramminglanguage White space (visual arts), portions of a page layout...
engineered languages. See list of constructed languages for a list. Asemic writing Constructed language Engineered languageEsotericprogramminglanguage Idioglossia...
Global Information