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Esoteric Language Culture and Community
A plain-language look at the shared habits, humor and goals of people who design and share odd programming languages, and how the hobby tends to work.
More Esoteric Languages
Esolang Culture
Why people build odd languages and how the community shares them.
Challenges and Contests Around Odd Languages
The usual formats of language challenges and contests in the esoteric language community, from design jams to shortest-program tasks, described in general terms.
Documenting a Hobby Language
Practical advice for explaining a small hobby language so other people can read it, run it and try their own programs without guessing how it works.
Intentionally Difficult Languages
Why some language designers make programming hard on purpose, which hostile design choices are common, and what those choices can teach about ordinary languages.
Joke Languages and Their Humor
How languages designed to amuse work, the kinds of jokes designers use, and how the joke ends up shaping syntax, semantics and the experience of writing code.
Naming Your Language
What makes a hobby programming language name memorable, how names signal tone, and how a name can affect whether people find, remember and try your language.
Using Esoteric Languages in Teaching
How small, odd programming languages can illustrate computing concepts such as state, control flow and interpretation to students, plus cautions for teachers.
What Esoteric Languages Teach Programmers
The general lessons odd programming languages offer about parsing, state and abstraction, and how those lessons carry over to ordinary programming work.
Why People Create Esoteric Languages
The common motives behind esoteric language design, including curiosity, challenge, art and humor, and why building one can be satisfying even without users.
Writing a Specification for a Hobby Language
What a short, unambiguous description of a hobby programming language should include, from program structure and state to errors, input and output.
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