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Every now and then a language like no other pops up: it's use is unusual and unusually long. Various biblical languages come to mind: Latin, Church Slavonic, He

by brnt 7y ago

Every now and then a language like no other pops up: it's use is unusual and unusually long. Various biblical languages come to mind: Latin, Church Slavonic, Hebrew at one point. These languages are feature complete, and the fact that they didn't change was their main appeal. I've always thought Python 2 might be headed for the languages. Which is fine, it's great to have a programming equivalent of Latin.

onethought 7y ago
... I'm sorry, but wouldn't the Latin equivalent be C... given Python is written in it, and most languages syntax is born from it. Python is more like the English language... it's borrowed a bunch of stuff from many different languages and isn't even compatible with itself ;) (2 vs 3). I mean, this is assuming with thing spoken languages are even at all similar to programming languages... which I don't think they are.
- brnt 7y ago
  C is a great example of a Latin too, agreed. There can be multiple ;)
jedberg 7y ago
Latin is getting new words all the time. The Vatican is the official maintainer. Sometimes it gets grammar tweaks too. Hebrew was completely replaced with modern Hebrew and gets new changes constantly.
- brnt 7y ago
  I guess I didn't go deep enough with the analogy. Python 2 sees new code all the time too. It's not dead! That's the whole point, it can simultaneously not see any new changes but still be used by those who value the absence of change.
- edanm 7y ago
  > Hebrew was completely replaced with modern Hebrew and gets new changes constantly. Just to clarify further, modern Hebrew is mostly backwards compatible with biblical Hebrew, it's not an entirely new language. It was mostly updated in terms of vocabulary that was necessary for the modern era, plus some spelling/grammar changes. Modern Hebrew speakers are able to read biblical Hebrew almost completely, though there are some differences (think of English speakers reading Shakespeare - though even less difference than that.)
  - jsjohnst 7y ago
    Sounds like Python 3 (Modern Hebrew) vs Python 2 (Biblical Hebrew), no? Anyone who can read Python 3 should barely struggle at all with Python 2. Anyone who can read Python 2 will see a few tweaks in the grammar / functionality (“vocabulary” in this analogy), but mostly straight forward.
szatkus 7y ago
Funnily enough, Latin became relatievely stable because people stopped using it outside the Church. After the fall of the Rome it quickly transformed into French, Spanish, Italian etc.

by brnt 7y ago

onethought 7y ago

... I'm sorry, but wouldn't the Latin equivalent be C... given Python is written in it, and most languages syntax is born from it. Python is more like the English language... it's borrowed a bunch of stuff from many different languages and isn't even compatible with itself ;) (2 vs 3). I mean, this is assuming with thing spoken languages are even at all similar to programming languages... which I don't think they are.

brnt 7y ago
C is a great example of a Latin too, agreed. There can be multiple ;)

jedberg 7y ago

Latin is getting new words all the time. The Vatican is the official maintainer. Sometimes it gets grammar tweaks too. Hebrew was completely replaced with modern Hebrew and gets new changes constantly.

brnt 7y ago
I guess I didn't go deep enough with the analogy. Python 2 sees new code all the time too. It's not dead! That's the whole point, it can simultaneously not see any new changes but still be used by those who value the absence of change.
edanm 7y ago
> Hebrew was completely replaced with modern Hebrew and gets new changes constantly. Just to clarify further, modern Hebrew is mostly backwards compatible with biblical Hebrew, it's not an entirely new language. It was mostly updated in terms of vocabulary that was necessary for the modern era, plus some spelling/grammar changes. Modern Hebrew speakers are able to read biblical Hebrew almost completely, though there are some differences (think of English speakers reading Shakespeare - though even less difference than that.)
- jsjohnst 7y ago
  Sounds like Python 3 (Modern Hebrew) vs Python 2 (Biblical Hebrew), no? Anyone who can read Python 3 should barely struggle at all with Python 2. Anyone who can read Python 2 will see a few tweaks in the grammar / functionality (“vocabulary” in this analogy), but mostly straight forward.

szatkus 7y ago

Funnily enough, Latin became relatievely stable because people stopped using it outside the Church. After the fall of the Rome it quickly transformed into French, Spanish, Italian etc.