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arXiv · 1808.03916

Linguistic Relativity and Programming Languages

Jiahao Chen
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Abstract

The use of programming languages can wax and wane across the decades. We examine the split-apply- combine pattern that is common in statistical computing, and consider how its invocation or implementation in languages like MATLAB and APL differ from R/dplyr. The differences in spelling illustrate how the concept of linguistic relativity applies to programming languages in ways that are analogous to human languages. Finally, we discuss how Julia, by being a high performance yet general purpose dynamic language, allows its users to express different abstractions to suit individual preferences.

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Jiahao Chen. 2018-08-12. Linguistic Relativity and Programming Languages. https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.03916

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