How do programming languages get created, and what goes into design decisions? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better ...

Why do we build radios or clocks when you can buy them? Why do we make LEDs blink for no apparent purpose? Why do we try to squeeze one extra frame out of our video cards? We don’t know why, but we do ...

In Programming Languages research, we explore the ways in which computations are expressed in written form. Our research focuses on three central ideas: the semantics of a particular piece of program ...

So we ended last episode with programming at the hardware level with things like plugboards and huge panels of switches, but what was really needed was a more versatile way to program computers - ...

For decades, fierce debates have raged over the benefits of different programming languages over others: Java vs. C++; Python vs. Ruby; Flask vs. Django. While often waged with fervor by computer ...

For many digital products, poor user interface design and UX can sink an app’s fortunes even if the underlying engineering is powerful and innovative. (Remember Color?) But what about the interfaces ...

Improve existing software. Create technologies that make everyday life better. Use computer science, and smartphones to capture more data from citizen scientists. Software is everywhere: interfaces to ...

The web would be a much more secure place if not for the vulnerability built right into a common coding practice: pasted-together strings of database commands (usually for either SQL queries or ...

Jimmy is a writer and editor who publishes a weekly newsletter. You can find him on Twitter. Code is the foundation of computing. Whether you are using a social media app on your smartphone or working ...

When reviewing job growth and salary information, it’s important to remember that actual numbers can vary due to many different factors—like years of experience in the role, industry of employment, ...

Some programming languages helped send humans to the moon, some are cooking up new leukemia drugs, and some exist just to fuck with you. Brainfuck is a minimalist “esoteric language,” or “esolang,” ...