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{{Short description|Experimental or artistic programming language}}
An '''esoteric programming language''' (sometimes shortened to '''esolang''') or '''weird language'''{{r|":2"|page=5}} is a [[programming language]] designed to test the boundaries of computer programming language design, as a [[proof of concept]], as [[software art]], as a hacking interface to another language (particularly [[functional programming]] or [[procedural programming]] languages), or as a [[joke]]. The use of the word ''[[wiktionary:esoteric|esoteric]]'' distinguishes them from languages that working developers use to write software. The creators of most esolangs do not intend them to be used for mainstream programming, although some esoteric features, such as live [[Data and information visualization|visualization]] of code,<ref>{{cite conference |last1=McLean |first1=A. |last2=Griffiths |first2=D. |last3=Collins |first3=N. |last4=Wiggins |first4=G. |date=2010 |title=Visualisation of Live Code |conference=Electronic Visualisation and the Arts 2010 |___location=London |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228575469}}</ref> have inspired practical applications in the arts. Such languages are often popular among [[Hacker culture|hackers]] and hobbyists.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}
Usability is rarely a goal for designers of esoteric programming languages; often their design leads to quite the opposite. Their usual aim is to remove or replace conventional language features while still maintaining a language that is [[Turing completeness|Turing-complete]], or even one for which the [[Computability theory|computational class]] is unknown.
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==History==
[[File:Hello World INTERCAL.png|thumb|"[["Hello, World!" program|Hello World!]]" program in INTERCAL]]
The earliest, and still the canonical example of an esoteric programming language, is [[INTERCAL]],<ref name="software-studies">{{Cite book |first=Matthew |last=Fuller |title=Software studies: a lexicon |date=2008 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-06274-9 |oclc=1156851190 |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262062749/software-studies/}}</ref> designed in 1972 by [[Don Woods (programmer)|Don Woods]] and James M. Lyon, who said that their intention was to create a programming language unlike any with which they were familiar
For many years, INTERCAL was represented only by paper copies of the INTERCAL manual. Its revival in 1990 as an implementation in [[C (programming language)|C]]{{r|":2"|page=6}} under [[Unix]] stimulated a wave of interest in the intentional design of esoteric computer languages.
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=== Chef ===
Chef is a [[stack-oriented programming language]] created by [[David Morgan-Mar]], designed to make programs look like [[Recipe|cooking recipes]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Cozens|first=Simon|title=Advanced Perl programming|year=2005|publisher=O'Reilly Media|isbn=978-0-596-00456-9|page=269|quote=A final Acme curiosity, and one of my favourites, is Acme::Chef, an implementation of David Morgan-Mar's Chef programming language. In Chef, programs are expressed in the form of recipes: ...}}</ref> Programs consist of a title, a list of variables and their data values, and a list of stack manipulation instructions.<ref name="chef">{{cite web|url=https://dangermouse.net/esoteric/chef.html|title=Chef|work=DM's Esoteric Programming Languages|first=David|last=Morgan-Mar|publisher=Self-published|date=2011-03-24|access-date=2023-05-01}}</ref> A joking design principle states that "program recipes should not only generate valid output, but be easy to prepare and delicious", and Morgan-Mar notes that an example [["Hello, World!" program]] with 101 eggs and {{cups|111|US}} oil would produce "a lot of food for one person
=== FRACTRAN ===
A [[FRACTRAN]] program is an ordered list of positive fractions together with an initial positive integer input <math>n</math>. The program is run by multiplying the integer <math>n</math> by the first fraction <math>f</math> in the list for which <math>nf</math> is an integer. The integer <math>n</math> is then replaced by <math>nf</math> and the rule is repeated. If no fraction in the list produces an integer when multiplied by <math>n</math>, the program halts. FRACTRAN was invented by mathematician [[John Horton Conway|John Conway]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kneusel |first1=Ronald |title=Strange Code: Esoteric Languages That Make Programming Fun Again |date=2022 |publisher=No Starch Press |isbn=978-1718502406 |page=217 |ref=kneusel-strange-code-fractran}}</ref>
=== INTERCAL ===
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=== Minecraft ===
[[Minecraft]] is a [[sandbox game]] developed by Mojang Studios, which contains a
=== Piet ===
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=== Whitespace ===
[[File:Whitespace in vim2.png|right|206px|thumb|Whitespace [[hello world program]] with syntax highlighting {{legend|#0000ab|tabs}} {{legend|#ab0000|spaces}}]]
[[Whitespace (programming language)|Whitespace]] uses only [[whitespace characters]] (space, tab, and return), ignoring all other characters, which can therefore be used for comments. This is the reverse of many traditional languages, which do not distinguish between different whitespace characters, treating tab and space the same. It also allows Whitespace programs to be hidden in the source code of programs in languages like C.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
== Cultural context ==
The cultural context of esolangs has been studied by Geoff Cox, who writes that esolangs "shift attention from command and control toward cultural expression and refusal",<ref>{{harvnb|Cox|2013|page=5}}</ref> seeing esolangs as similar to code art and code poetry, such as [[Mez Breeze]]'s [[mezangelle]], a belief shared by others in field.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The true meaning of esoteric programming languages |url=https://www.apifonica.com/en/blog/esoteric-programming-languages/ |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=Apifonica |language=en}}</ref> Daniel Temkin claims that "esolangs are open-ended systems, natively collaborative, and distanced from any single materialized form
==References==
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