Programming language dialect
Encyclopedia
A dialect of a programming language
is a (relatively small) variation or extension of the language that does not change its intrinsic nature. With languages such as Scheme and Forth, standards may be considered insufficient, inadequate or even illegitimate by implementors, so often they will deviate from the standard, making a new dialect
. In other cases, a dialect is created for use in a domain-specific language, often a subset. In the Lisp
world, most languages that use basic S-expression
syntax and Lisp-like semantics are considered Lisp dialects, even though they vary wildly, as do, say, Bigloo Scheme and newLISP
. As it is common for one language to have several dialects, it can become quite difficult for an inexperienced programmer to find the right documentation. The BASIC programming language has many dialects.
The explosion of Forth dialects led to the saying "If you've seen one Forth... you've seen one Forth."
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
is a (relatively small) variation or extension of the language that does not change its intrinsic nature. With languages such as Scheme and Forth, standards may be considered insufficient, inadequate or even illegitimate by implementors, so often they will deviate from the standard, making a new dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
. In other cases, a dialect is created for use in a domain-specific language, often a subset. In the Lisp
Common Lisp
Common Lisp, commonly abbreviated CL, is a dialect of the Lisp programming language, published in ANSI standard document ANSI INCITS 226-1994 , . From the ANSI Common Lisp standard the Common Lisp HyperSpec has been derived for use with web browsers...
world, most languages that use basic S-expression
S-expression
S-expressions or sexps are list-based data structures that represent semi-structured data. An S-expression may be a nested list of smaller S-expressions. S-expressions are probably best known for their use in the Lisp family of programming languages...
syntax and Lisp-like semantics are considered Lisp dialects, even though they vary wildly, as do, say, Bigloo Scheme and newLISP
NewLISP
newLISP is an open source scripting language in the Lisp family of programming languages developed by Lutz Mueller and released under the GNU General Public License.-History:newLISP originated in 1991 and was originally developed on a Sun-4 workstation...
. As it is common for one language to have several dialects, it can become quite difficult for an inexperienced programmer to find the right documentation. The BASIC programming language has many dialects.
The explosion of Forth dialects led to the saying "If you've seen one Forth... you've seen one Forth."
See also
- List of BASIC dialects
- Programming languageProgramming languageA programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
- Computer programmingComputer programmingComputer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
- Dialect (programming language)