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Favorite Programming Language Names

Here are my favorite programming language names. I tried to be unbiased and not factor in my knowledge of the language design, history, or the surrounding community.

Programmers are often notoriously bad at naming things, so it’s no surprise that this list of programming languages is full of boring names. Not that it really matters, but if a new language was released named K++# I likely wouldn’t pay it any attention.

Honorable mentions: C Ruby ColdFusion Simula AWK

Rust

A great name for a programming language, and easily my favorite. The subtle hint that this is intended to be a systems language and “closer to the metal” is just perfect.

Ada

The name Ada stands up on it’s own. Being named after the first computer programmer is just icing on top.

Lua

What does Lua mean? Don’t know, but I like it.

Swift

I haven’t used Swift enough to know if it’s a truly swift programming language, but the name checks out.

Update: Lua means “moon” in Portuguese.

Posted on March 9th, 2019