The Shakespeare Programming Language (SPL) is an esoteric programming language created by Jon Aslund and Karl Hasselstrom in 2001, designed so that valid programs read as scripts in the style of an Elizabethan stage play, with variables represented as named characters, arithmetic expressed through elaborate insults and compliments exchanged between characters, and control flow expressed through characters entering and exiting scenes. SPL is Turing-complete despite its comedic form, its explicit design goal being to demonstrate that a genuinely usable programming language could also be a piece of readable, if absurd, dramatic prose.
Facts
SignificanceThe Shakespeare Programming Language's significance is that it demonstrates a full programming language whose valid programs are written to read as an Elizabethan style stage play, using named characters as variables. 1 Sources
1. Shakespeare Programming Language, Wikipedia
Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
The Shakespeare Programming Language (SPL) is an esoteric programming language designed by Jon Åslund and Karl Wiberg.
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