Newspeak (programming language)
Encyclopedia
Newspeak is a programming language
and platform
in the tradition of Smalltalk
and Self being developed by a team led by Gilad Bracha
. The platform includes an IDE, a GUI library, and standard libraries. Starting in 2006, Cadence Design Systems
funded its development and employed the main contributors, but ceased funding in January 2009.
Newspeak is a class based language. Classes may be nested, as in BETA
. This is one of the key differences between Newspeak and Smalltalk. All names in Newspeak are late-bound, and are interpreted as message sends, as in Self.
Newspeak is distinguished by its unusual approach to modularity. The language has no global namespace. Top level classes act as module declarations. Module declarations are first class values (i.e., they may be stored in variables, passed as parameters, returned from methods, etc.) and are stateless.
's newspeak
appearing in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
. The heading on the programming language's website says "It's doubleplusgood". The motivation for the name is that Orwell's Newspeak language grew smaller with every revision; Bracha views this as a desirable goal for a programming language.
The language icon is supposed to be Big Brother's eye, as seen in page 3 of the documentation.
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....
and platform
Platform
- Physical objects and features :* Diving platform, used in competitive diving* Jumping platform, naturally occurring platforms, or platforms made in an ad-hoc way for cliff jumping* Oil platform, a structure built for oil production...
in the tradition of Smalltalk
Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
and Self being developed by a team led by Gilad Bracha
Gilad Bracha
Gilad Bracha is a software engineer, a co-author of the second and third editions of the Java Language Specification, a major contributor to the second edition of the Java Virtual Machine Specification, and the creator of the Newspeak programming language....
. The platform includes an IDE, a GUI library, and standard libraries. Starting in 2006, Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems, Inc is an electronic design automation software and engineering services company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc...
funded its development and employed the main contributors, but ceased funding in January 2009.
Newspeak is a class based language. Classes may be nested, as in BETA
BETA
BETA is a pure object-oriented language originating within the "Scandinavian School" in object-orientation where the first object-oriented language Simula was developed....
. This is one of the key differences between Newspeak and Smalltalk. All names in Newspeak are late-bound, and are interpreted as message sends, as in Self.
Newspeak is distinguished by its unusual approach to modularity. The language has no global namespace. Top level classes act as module declarations. Module declarations are first class values (i.e., they may be stored in variables, passed as parameters, returned from methods, etc.) and are stateless.
Identity
The name "Newspeak" is inspired by George OrwellGeorge Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's newspeak
Newspeak
Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it refers to the deliberately impoverished language promoted by the state. Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix in which the basic principles of the language are explained...
appearing in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
. The heading on the programming language's website says "It's doubleplusgood". The motivation for the name is that Orwell's Newspeak language grew smaller with every revision; Bracha views this as a desirable goal for a programming language.
The language icon is supposed to be Big Brother's eye, as seen in page 3 of the documentation.