Both. They’re not particularly related or similar. But through naming, comments, and docs they’re connected for a common means.

I enjoy formulating in a concise, precise way. I like wordplay. I’m interested in different human languages. I’m familiar with several “computer” languages.

Languages encode meaning. Data formats, specifications and descriptions formalize rules. Human languages have rules too, but they are much more dynamic, diffuse and changing.

That’s interesting, they’re two of my biggest interests. I wonder if this is true for a lot of other people.

I’m interested in programming language theory but not as much in linguistics. There is some interesting overlap though. I think I like PLT because it is prescriptive, unambiguous and clear; whereas linguistics is an attempt to describe natural language, but has areas that are ambiguous and less clear (invisible green dragons sleep furiously, for one). This impedence mismatch is probably why natural language processing is such a difficult problem in computer science and why we tend to rely on AI for it.

Chomsky’s work in linguistics and grammars was incredibly important for computational parsing, be it source code or anything else. The Chomsky hierarchy (depicted and linked below) is important for developers writing parsers to know, because each category of grammar has different performance characteristics.

I have interest in both types, but it is not like they are correlated. Computer languages are more logical and human languages are more abstract.

I write code in a bunch of different languages without breaking a sweat, but the human spoken language has always been a mystery to me. I can barely handle one language, I’ve tried learning two others and failed miserably except for a very small handful of words.

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Just computer languages for me - I am absolutely horrible with any spoken language besides my native tongue nor do they interest me. Meanwhile picking up new computer languages, libraries, and frameworks is a blast

I wish. I speak spanish natively and english to a level I will codeswitch, very inconvenient among the older generation. I also learnt italian up to a B1 (and pass as italian, if the amount of people asking where from italy I’m from is any indication) and have a passing knowledge of german, enough to grasp the meaning of anything written down, as long as it’s not too complex.

Coding wise? Unless you consider html, css, and rudimentary knowledge of javascript coding, I’m not computer fluent.

I code in a few languages and I’ve always wanted to know more than one “human” language but efforts in that area have more or less consistently failed (exception being Esperanto because that’s easy, but since hardly anyone speaks it it’s not exactly useful).

Despite my interest in both I doubt there’s much of a correlation when you look at programmers (or polyglots) as a group, though. For all we call all of these things “languages” there’s a pretty big distinction and difference in complexity and approach between the computer and human ones, it’s a whole different hobby.

I’d compare coding more to other hobbies that involve making things. I knit a jumper, I develop a video game…scratches same itch.

Or possibly problem-solving hobbies. I work out how to adjust a sewing pattern to fit, I solve a tricksy sudoku…again same itch.

Both are fascinating to me. I have also met a lot of people who are interested in both. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. There’s something really interesting about the way we can use symbols and signifiers to encode and transmit and preserve information. Any kind of information.

Coding requires you to say precisely what you mean. Give clear instructions. Define exactly the pieces you are working with. There is really no room for ambiguity, and there’s something really satisfying to the logical side of my brain about that kind of rigidity.

But that’s exactly why linguistics is interesting to the other side of my brain. Human language is full of fuzzy categories, changing definitions, unwritten rules, unspoken connotations, creative repurposing, borrowing, taboos… You can add dimensions of meaning with text, your voice, your eyes, the movement of your body. You can pack so much nuance into a single word or phrase; a subtle hint can mean so much more than what you are literally saying. You can intentionally encode a message so that it is NOT understood. There is infinite malleability in human language.

This is why it’s so exciting to see such progress in natural language processing. Large language models kind of blur the lines and begin to “understand” and respond to the ambiguities of the way we use language (at least in a kind of probabilistic sense). But they are also learning our programming languages. Right now, we can converse with AI models that can write (basic) code for us and with us, and make changes based on our conversational language. Imagine one day programming in plain language without that intermediary step!

I have an interest in both and i do think those two interests are related for me.

Yes, i speak portuguese, english, python, c, and gdscript, i’m also learning french

I have to many computer languages in my head, I’m terrible at even English😄

Seriously though, I think in code. My wife tells me it’s weird. I have a hard time with human languages.

I’m interested in Linguistics. Not deeply interested on the sets of instructions used by computers, although I know a bit of bash (does it count?).

I think that “programming languages” is at most an overused, overextended metaphor. It’s on the same level as saying that a language is “alive” - sure, you can get a few interesting outcomes from the metaphor, but you need to remember that metaphors become mushy once pulled and pushed hard enough.

I program in multiple computer languages, and I speak two human languages. I find them completely different skillsets for entirely different purposes.

They are both of interest but for completely different and unrelated reasons.