From Fluent 2015: “Javascript is Esperanto that does something.” Constructed languages — conlangs — are artificially-created languages, a category which includes Esperanto, Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki, and yes, Javascript. Can thinking about Javascript the way we think about other human languages help us be better coders, or at least write more readable code? About Erin McKean (Wordnik): Erin McKean is the founder of the newly-not-for-profit Wordnik.com, the world’s biggest online dictionary. Before founding Wordnik, she was the editor-in-chief of American Dictionaries for Oxford University Press, and before Javascript, she dabbled in HyperCard, Perl, and Omnimark (if you have ever written anything in Omnimark, she will buy you a drink). She’s the author of the Weird and Wonderful Words books, the best-selling novel The Secret Lives of Dresses, and (most recently) The Hundred Dresses, a field guide to dresses. She blogs at dressaday.com. When you meet her, please tell her your favorite word.

Be the first to comment