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> But I do note that your examples are from quite a narrow sector. TypeScript, Go and React are all languages. TypeScript is a nice facade over JavaScript, and

by ctvo 6y ago

> But I do note that your examples are from quite a narrow sector. TypeScript, Go and React are all languages. TypeScript is a nice facade over JavaScript, and React is ... well, a very powerful DSL.[ß] > ß: Our frontend team will probably want to roast me for that one, but there isn't much visible JS left in modern React code. Not for my eyes, at least. Can you clarify what you're talking about here with regards to React? I can see calling JSX a DSL, but React is a language now? And there's no JS / TypeScript in your React code base?

TeMPOraL 6y ago
> but React is a language now? In a way, it is. Whenever you write some module in your project, you're effectively designing a language. Every function you add is a new verb, every type you define is a new noun[0] - and the relationships between them form the grammar. It may sound trivial, but I think it's an important and underappreciated point. Modularizing and abstracting is done by building languages on top of other languages. We usually make a distinction between what is a "library" or "module" and what is a "language", by... it's hard to capture the distinction exactly, but my guess is that we reserve the term "programming language" for languages that a) define a large, highly composable set of building blocks, and b) have complex translation into a lower-level language, ultimately yielding executable code. Whatever the distinction could be, in reality, it's a spectrum. -- [0] - Well, a piece of a noun phrase. Maybe. I'm not a linguist.
- yawaramin 6y ago
  That's not what was asked. The query was, 'Is React a language now', i.e. specifically React, not just a general query like 'In general, is programming a process of designing little custom languages to solve problems'.
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    So to answer explicitly: in many ways, yes it is.
bostik 6y ago
There is JS/TS in the codebase, but a surprisingly large fraction of the UI manipulation logic doesn't bear resemblance to either. I base my opinion on my own interpretation: for me modern React looks a lot like the offspring of QML and a flavour of Lisp.

by ctvo 6y ago

TeMPOraL 6y ago

> but React is a language now? In a way, it is. Whenever you write some module in your project, you're effectively designing a language. Every function you add is a new verb, every type you define is a new noun[0] - and the relationships between them form the grammar. It may sound trivial, but I think it's an important and underappreciated point. Modularizing and abstracting is done by building languages on top of other languages. We usually make a distinction between what is a "library" or "module" and what is a "language", by... it's hard to capture the distinction exactly, but my guess is that we reserve the term "programming language" for languages that a) define a large, highly composable set of building blocks, and b) have complex translation into a lower-level language, ultimately yielding executable code. Whatever the distinction could be, in reality, it's a spectrum. -- [0] - Well, a piece of a noun phrase. Maybe. I'm not a linguist.

yawaramin 6y ago
That's not what was asked. The query was, 'Is React a language now', i.e. specifically React, not just a general query like 'In general, is programming a process of designing little custom languages to solve problems'.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  So to answer explicitly: in many ways, yes it is.

bostik 6y ago

There is JS/TS in the codebase, but a surprisingly large fraction of the UI manipulation logic doesn't bear resemblance to either. I base my opinion on my own interpretation: for me modern React looks a lot like the offspring of QML and a flavour of Lisp.