List of ideas

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This is a list of ideas of programming languages and other stuff.

[edit] Incomplete ideas

  • Braille
  • Fractran with complex numbers
    • (see comment on Good Math, Bad Math article.) -- alhirzel
  • Language based on software emulation of a Rube Goldberg machine
    • Could be akin to Befunge with event propagation
    • Could have "bridge" constructs which are continuous when traveling in one direction but hitting them from another direction "knocks them over" (perhaps until they are "stood back up"?)
      • I see toppling dominoes.
    • Could be self-modifying with machines which move their parts -- alhirzel
    • This has been done before: See RUBE and RedGreen. --Ørjan 00:50, 28 Jan 2007 (UTC)
  • Befunge interpreter named "v"
    • If you used the interpreter named v in your path, then you could use #!v line to start your program, thus making it runnable without typing in the name of the interpreter at all. (ie, your befunge code with the #!v as the first line would be executable)
    • Your program would end up starting in the third column going down, but having it be runnable from the command line would be cool.
    • (didn't really know where to post this)
      • Any name starting with v would work too.
        • vefunge perhaps?
  • A language based around rolling ball sculptures (switches etc.) I have a prototype but I'm not sure what it can do yet (I'm new, btw)
    • This got me an interesting idea: Imagine a 2D area with each cell containing an instruction. Place a variable number of 8-sided cubes on the area, each cube has instructions on all sides. Execution takes place as the cube tilts over, action is defined based on the combination of the instruction placed on the current cell and the instruction on the cube-side touching the cell. If the cube hits another cube on the area, motion and execution is passed on to that cube, as a serial reaction. Before the cube "rolls" away the instructions is switched: the instruction on the cube is printed on the area, the instruction on the area is sucked up on the cube. --Peter Larsen
    •  !S F<E1,@prntpth @end> E<E1,D1,E1,F1> D<B1> B<E1>
    •  !F all 0
    •  !O ?this is a prototype example of this, printing FEEDBEEF. The first line creates switches, the second puts them all to 0 (left) and the third line starts the ball at F<>. It isn't very efficient. The question mark is comments.
  • A language based on a roguelike game such as NetHack. The language would be non-deterministic, since roguelikes are traditionally very random. "Programs" would be represented as a player - the interpreter would act as a bot going through the dungeon, functions would be learnable skills, and data would be treasure and junk found in the dungeon. Since permadeath is a feature of roguelikes, there is no guarantee that a program will succeed in executing, although if a program DOES succeed in execution, it would be guaranteed to produce an accurate result. To make things more difficult the program could only produce the appropriate result after successfully obtaining some artifact (e.g. The Executor) and leaving the dungeon.--wildhalcyon 14:44, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
    • I like the idea - I've been playing quite a few roguelikes lately - perhaps the code could be a layout of a dungeon and then an instructions list?
    • An important feature of roguelikes is randomization, so I don't see the dungeon layout being "hardcoded" as as the code of the program. Plus, having a randomized dungeon means that programs have a more varied opportunity to fail. Different dungeon features could be included or excluded in the code using libraries perhaps.
    • Hmm... I think the code should be divided into two sections, one for "Data Processing Code" (This is the code you are trying to run, it can only be affected by the dungeon by pausing until the player's status allows it to continue [e.g. Instruction not Learned] or dying) and "Survival Code" (This is the code that controls the player, it can receive all data that would normally be visible to the player, and uses it to attempt to allow the "Data Processing Code" to continue) Basically, every program must contain an artificial intelligence engine capable of playing the roguelike built into the interpreter reasonably well (Or you can let the user do it) in order to function, with the goal of the game being to execute the code.
  • A multidimensional language, where the program is a set of points in Rn and a function which maps these points onto Rm; this process then repeats with the new program and a new function on Rm. Maybe it could be called something like Projection or Linear Map (although these may be too normal/restrictive, in which case Morphism?).
  • A programming language whose source code is in XML format.
    • Been done already (XSLT)!
  • A programming language that resembles a telegram, all uppercase with STOP in between commands. for instance: PRINT "HELLO WORLD" STOP NEW LINE STOP
    • or just maybe a programming language that looks like a letter to someone
  • We have COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language), so why not:
COSOL - COmmon Science-Oriented Language (like Fortran/C)?
COFOL - COmmon Function-Oriented Language (like ML/Haskell)?
COOOL - COmmon Object-Oriented Language (like Java/SmallTalk) [or even just COOL]?
("like" = "which would have similar language features to")
  • A language that only uses the homerow of keyboards for optimum typing speed. This would be good for mapping keys to game controllers so that programs could be written with 4 face buttons and a d-pad/analog stick of a game controller. Very comfortable programming.
    • Maybe you could make like this on Nintendo DS
  • A language whose source code is a set of pre-made images put together into an image file. An interesting take on this would be making a language with the alphabet used in Codex Seraphinianus. It would be an alien programming language from bizarro world.
  • An image based language that follows a single line and the size of the spaces it encloses.(ie --[ ]--) are characters.
  • A language that uses the frames of a png or gif image file as code.
  • A language designed in such a way that souce code looked like poetry or song lyrics.
  • A langauge that uses a sound file and the properties of sound as code.
  • A programming language that consists entirely of pronounceable words that don't have any meaning at all. This would allow programmers to quickly speak and write code as if it really were a (foreign) language. So int[] x = {3,4,3}; might be "yor sawv ecks je fe di ank du ank la defe ile." The actual implementation may be more terse in some way.
  • A language whose code consists solely of quoted strings as regex patterns, each of which is run over the program's own source code before the next pattern, which runs over the output of the previous pattern.
    • Already exists, see ///
  • A language that uses only the symbols ☺, ☻, and π.
  • A language that requires you to use functions that are not called, and undefine all header files you will "not" use
  • A language that holds a list of seven functions, and those are the only ones you can use. After using one, it is replaced with another like a deck of cards. Changing a past function (though not the data) will change a random "card" in your "hand" to that function.
  • What about a language based on ballistics? You could have an "artillery piece", whose commands are the source code. It can rotate and elevate, and have muzzle velocity specified. It fires at a 2D grid placed in a square around it. The grid elements are the memory locations, and the angle of impact specifies what to do. This would likely need a lot of computation, though.
  • Simon Says! Any command that doesn't begin with "Simon says" isn't performed.
  • Combine 2-dimensional fungeiod with an array, verb-stacking paradigm a la J/APL.
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