Through the Language Glass

Programming languages are a lot like human languages: tools for communication. Is it possible that the languages we use can shape the way we approach problems? We'll explore some differences in how humans communicate and then discover how these ideas can be applied to computer programming.

Transcript

1. Through The Language Glass By Chris Nguyen (@uncompiled)
3. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis the structure of a language affects the speaker's perception or cognition of the world Edward Sapir Benjamin Lee Whorf
5. เกรงใ◌่จ
6. The Breakdown เกรง /greng/ fear, be afraid of, be in awe of, dread ใจ /jai/ mind, heart, spirit.
7. The Breakdown เกรง /greng/ fear, be afraid of, be in awe of, dread ใจ /jai/: mind, heart, spirit. "the discomfort that you feel when you need to inconvenience someone"
8. blue = green
9. xanh = xanh
11. xanh = xanh
12. xanh = xanh lá cây green
13. Language is a tool for communication
14. Human languages let us communicate with people
17. Imperative vs Declarative
18. Imperative Languages • Express how to do something • Similar to how a computer works • Recipes are real-world examples
19. Declarative Languages • Express what we want • Higher-level of abstraction • Functional languages
20. HTML is Declarative <img src="cool.gif"> createElementinDOM("img") download("cool.gif") calculateSize("cool.gif") drawPixelsOnScreen(...) vs.
21. Most languages are multi-paradigm
22. Programming Problem Given a sequence s 1 ,s 2 ,…s n consisting of n lowercase English alphabet characters (a-z), remove all of the characters that occurred previously in the sequence. Input: [a,b,b,a,c,a,d,a,b,r,a] Output: [a,b,c,d,r] Formally: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i
23. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { let result = []; for (let i = 0; i < input.length; i++ ) { let curr = input[i]; if (result.indexOf(curr) < 0) result.push(curr); } return result; }
24. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { let result = []; for (let i = 0; i < input.length; i++) { let curr = input[i]; if (result.indexOf(curr) < 0) result.push(curr); } return result; }
25. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { let result = []; for (let i = 0; i < input.length; i++) { let curr = input[i]; if (result.indexOf(curr) < 0) result.push(curr); } return result; }
26. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { let result = []; for (let i = 0; i < input.length; i++) { let curr = input[i]; if (result.indexOf(curr) < 0) result.push(curr); } return result; }
27. Clojure https://xkcd.com/297/
28. Clojure: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i (distinct input)
29. Programming languages are not a zero sum game @uncompiled
30. + = higher order functions
31. filter, map, reduce
32. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { return input.filter( (item, index, array) => { return index === array.indexOf(item); } ); }
33. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { return input.filter( (item, index, array) => { return index === array.indexOf(item); } ); }
34. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { return input.filter( (item, index, array) => { return index === array.indexOf(item); } ); }
36. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { return [...new Set(input)]; }
37. JavaScript: Remove all s i for ∃j,s j =s i and j<i function solution(input) { return Array.from(new Set(input)); }
38. "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." Abraham Maslow The Psychology of Science, 1966
39. Languages evolve
42. Yaassssss!
44. Evolving the Language Ecmascript Proposal (TC39) JDK Enhancement Proposal Python Enhancement Proposal
45. github.com/tc39/proposals
46. polyfills, prollyfills, and compilers
48. github.com/babel/proposals
49. github.com/tc39/proposal-pattern-matching
50. Pattern Matching in Scala def int2Word(i: Int): String = i match { case 1 => "one" case 2 => "two" case _ => "many" }
51. Pattern Matching in Scala def notify(notification: Notification, vipList: Seq[String]): String = notification match { case Email(email, _, _) if vipList.contains(email) => s"You got an email from ${email}!" case SMS(number, _) if vipList.contains(number) => s"You got an SMS from ${number}!" case _ => processDefaultNotification(other) }
52. Pattern Matching in Scala def notify(notification: Notification, vipList: Seq[String]): String = notification match { case Email(email, _, _) if vipList.contains(email) => s"You got an email from ${email}!" case SMS(number, _) if vipList.contains(number) => s"You got an SMS from ${number}!" case _ => processDefaultNotification(other) }
53. Pattern Matching in Scala def notify(notification: Notification, vipList: Seq[String]): String = notification match { case Email(email, _, _) if vipList.contains(email) => s"You got an email from ${email}!" case SMS(number, _) if vipList.contains(number) => s"You got an SMS from ${number}!" case _ => processDefaultNotification(other) }
54. Pattern Matching in Scala def notify(notification: Notification, vipList: Seq[String]): String = notification match { case Email(email, _, _) if vipList.contains(email) => s"You got an email from ${email}!" case SMS(number, _) if vipList.contains(number) => s"You got an SMS from ${number}!" case _ => processDefaultNotification(other) }
55. Pattern Matching in Scala def notify(notification: Notification, vipList: Seq[String]): String = notification match { case Email(email, _, _) if vipList.contains(email) => s"You got an email from ${email}!" case SMS(number, _) if vipList.contains(number) => s"You got an SMS from ${number}!" case _ => processDefaultNotification(other) }
56. Pattern Matching in JS const res = await fetch(jsonService) const val = match (res) { {status: 200, headers: {'Content-Length': s}} => `size is ${s}`, {status: 404} => 'JSON not found', {status} if (status >= 400) => throw new RequestError(res) }
57. Pattern Matching in JS const res = await fetch(jsonService) const val = match (res) { {status: 200, headers: {'Content-Length': s}} => `size is ${s}`, {status: 404} => 'JSON not found', {status} if (status >= 400) => throw new RequestError(res) }
58. Pattern Matching in JS const res = await fetch(jsonService) const val = match (res) { {status: 200, headers: {'Content-Length': s}} => `size is ${s}`, {status: 404} => 'JSON not found', {status} if (status >= 400) => throw new RequestError(res) }
59. github.com/zkat/pattycake
60. Through the Language Glass • Languages are communities • Languages are not a zero sum game • New languages open your mind to alternative ways of thinking • Concepts stick with you regardless of the language that you're currently using Thanks! Chris Nguyen @uncompiled