The hottest Language Evolution Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

A Brief History of "Homeless"

Mental Disorder • 216 implied HN points • 22 Jun 23
💾 History Language Evolution Homelessness Activism Policy Impact
  1. The term 'homeless' is imprecise and can refer to various living conditions and situations.
  2. The language used to describe homelessness has evolved over time, from terms like 'hobo' to 'bum' to 'the homeless.'
  3. The rebranding of homelessness as a policy issue has led to significant funding for housing first policies and a shift towards more politically correct terms.

The end of “Useless Ruby sugar”: On intuitions and evolutions

zverok on lucid code • 133 HN points • 22 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Programming Language Software Development Language Evolution
  1. The article discusses the analysis of 'useless sugar' features of Ruby and the process of understanding language changes.
  2. The writing project on Ruby syntax features expanded into a series of posts over two months, focusing on language evolution.
  3. The two main driving forces behind language evolution discussed are the shift towards functional programming styles and the natural expansion of a language's thesaurus.

The making of Ruby Changes: A boring advent

zverok on lucid code • 86 implied HN points • 28 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Programming Software Development Language Evolution Documentation
  1. The author has been writing in Ruby for almost 20 years and started the Ruby Changes project to understand language evolution.
  2. The author experimented with an 'advent-style' approach to working on the changelog for Ruby 3.3, documenting the process daily.
  3. The diary of working on the Ruby changelog involved tasks like writing the changelog, addressing bugs, improving documentation, and reflecting on the language changes.

The Digital Age and Language Evolution

The Digital Anthropologist • 39 implied HN points • 30 Dec 22
🕹 Technology Language Evolution Digital Communication UX Design Artificial Intelligence
  1. Human language is always evolving, incorporating symbols, voice, gestures, and text - a complex creative process that continues to adapt to the digital age.
  2. The use of symbols like emojis reflects an evolution in communication akin to ancient cave drawings, now combined with voice, gestures, and text in modern digital interactions.
  3. Advancements in digital communication technologies, including AI, AR, and VR, are shaping how we evolve language to facilitate global interconnection and problem-solving.
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Whatever happened to Elm, anyway?

derw • 6 HN points • 13 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Programming Frameworks Community Language Evolution Tooling
  1. Elm's community size has grown over the years, with increasing audience and engagement.
  2. Elm's slower release cycle and emergence of alternative technologies like TypeScript have contributed to its stagnant growth.
  3. Elm's unique architecture and niche status may no longer provide a compelling reason for adoption compared to other frameworks like Svelte or Vue.