Is English the Lingua Franca of Computing?
March 6, 2025
English is often referred to as the lingua franca of computing, playing a central role in the development of programming language terminology. Unlike other scientific fields that draw heavily from Latin or Greek for vocabulary, computer science leans predominantly on English. This influence stems from the historical leadership of English-speaking nations like the United States and the United Kingdom in advancing computer systems, networks, and software.
The world’s most spoken language by both native and non-native speakers has inspired many programming language elements, particularly keywords and code libraries, marking a key trend in the evolution of programming language design. With over 8,500 programming languages in existence, only about 50 to 100 are widely used in the tech industry today. So, it’s difficult to determine the exact number with new languages being developed while others fade into obscurity.
Interestingly, the HOPL online database reveals that roughly 2,400 programming languages have been created in the United States, 600 in the United Kingdom, 160 in Canada, and 75 in Australia, which means more than one-third were developed in English-speaking countries. This doesn’t even account for programming languages created in non-English-speaking regions but designed with English terminology to reach a global audience, such as Python developed in the Netherlands or Ruby from Japan.
What is the hardest programming language?
Malbolge is widely regarded as the most challenging programming language to learn, deliberately designed to confuse and frustrate its users. Created by Ben Olmstead in 1998, this esoteric language serves more as a mind-bending exercise than a practical tool for programming. Its complexity lies in features like restricted instructions, self-altering code, and base-three arithmetic, which obscure the meaning and purpose of its programs.
Conversely, Python is often considered the easiest programming language for beginners to learn. Other easy-to-learn computer languages include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Swift.
The first "Hello, World!" program in Malbolge was not even handwritten but was generated by a Lisp program using a genetic algorithm to search through possible code combinations. Among the few successful programs written in Malbolge include a "99 Bottles of Beer" song generator and the "Hello, World!" program, all considered remarkable achievements due to the language's unreadable code, paired with its intentionally impractical design challenges.
Computing Speed for Internet Infrastructure
Unicode has revolutionized the way text is processed and stored, forming the foundation of today’s global internet infrastructure. Not a programming language, it defines a character encoding standard that allows software products to be localized for different languages and regional requirements, to support the use of text in virtually all of the world's digitized writing systems. Its development dates back to the 1980s, spearheaded by a group associated with Xerox’s Character Code Standard.
This universal character encoding standard uses encoding formats like UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 to assign unique numerical codes. While Unicode creates the structure to represent characters, programming languages are required to write the code and provide syntax for applications. It is widely adopted on the internet and supports most modern web pages and software. For instance, Python utilizes the Unicode Standard in its string type, enabling Python programs to seamlessly handle characters from diverse languages and symbols.
By assigning unique numerical codes to over 150,000 characters, Unicode ensures that written text can be transmitted, stored, and transformed efficiently across computer systems. The text encoding system is now managed by the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit organization supported by industry leaders such as Adobe, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more. With Unicode encoding the majority of text on the Internet, it has become a critical component of modern software development, promoting seamless communication in a globally connected world.
International Programming Languages
The idea of international-style programming languages emerged from the pioneering work of European and American computer scientists in 1958. Despite its barriers, ALGOL has had a lasting impact on the evolution of languages. Localization, a key feature in several programming languages, makes coding more inclusive for users worldwide. Citrine stands out with support for over 100 languages and open-source Hedy emphasizes accessibility by including non-Latin alphabets. In addition, Scratch is a block-based language that effortlessly translates projects by switching the editor's language.
From the early days of computer programming in the U.S., influential figures like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Paul Allen as well as Apple's Steve Wozniak played pivotal roles in shaping the tech world. As the founders of major computer companies, they were skilled in the languages of the time, such as BASIC Interpreter and Integer BASIC. Later, Microsoft created C# as a response to a rift with Sun Microsystems over Java, positioning it as a replacement for Java in many scenarios. C++ emerged as a powerful but challenging programming language, known for its intricate syntax, low-level memory management, and advanced features like pointers and multiple inheritance.
Programming languages have predominantly been developed in English-speaking countries, with a majority of them using keywords derived from the English language. However, non-English-based programming languages, which replace English keywords with terms from other languages, do exist. Globally popular languages like Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, PHP, SQL, C#, Ruby, and Go dominate in countries like China and Russia as well. Despite this global trend, Russia also boasts its domestic platform called “1C:Enterprise,” which is extensively used for business automation.
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The use of a lingua franca for selling products and services to people of a different native tongue worked for early traders traveling The Silk Road in 130 B.C. But, in today’s digital world, organizations who want to remain at the forefront of global online sales must embrace multilingual computer programming languages to make potential customers feel included, as an important part of an international business’s brand. To learn more about ProLingo’s translation and multi-lingual interpretation services, contact a digital language specialist today at 800-287-9755.
