I was talking to a woman the other day who told me that her son was able to get a foreign language credit in college by studying a programming language. I don't remember what he studied, but what do you think? Should Java, Python, C++ and other languages be considered to be of the same caliber as Latin, French, Chinese, etc.?
I'd argue that that's very untrue! Computer languages are ways for software engineers to communicate and express complex ideas and processes to other programmers and even everyday folks. Also consider that, broken down, all computer languages are used for direct communication - that is, in the form of machine code, a language of numbers.
And like any other language, comp. languages have rules of syntax that must be followed for the code to be understood by other human beings as well as other software. Even though I don't walk around to my friends saying "System.out.println("HEY LINK!");", it's still a form of communication.
It's utterly ridiculous. You cannot speak in programming languages (well, it may technically be possible, but nobody in the world actually speaks in them), and they're not 'foreign' either.
Not a foreign language. Foreign would imply that it's from some sort of country. As for the language part....
I was thinking the same thing earlier.
If you think about it like this, C++ and the like are a way of communicating with the computer, and getting it to do what you want.
If we take the definition of language.
"The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way."
It would work perfectly except for one thing. And that would be HUMAN communication.
Not at all because the point of the college credit for a foreign language is to have a secondary language so people can communicate better with more people and having the ability to speak with others who may not speak our own. Learning C won't do that for you at all. Programming is different than speaking. Programming is complex and it can be read by other programmers and they will understand, it is a proper language, despite not directly for communicating. Anyone can argue it is a language, because it is. But the point of the matter is that learning C won't give you a sudden ability to communicate with others you normally wouldn't. That being the whole point of having that credit nullifies this idea of learning a programming language as a foreign language.
Learning to program is impressive, and if they do, that's great, but C and other languages should not pass for that credit. Programming is irrelevant.
I'm impressed by the responses given here. I do have to agree with the general consensus, but I still find it interesting to try to see how the college rationalized it.
From a different country. There are many more foreign students in Europe since the Erasmus scheme started.
belonging to a different culture. Eating with chopsticks was a foreign concept to him.
Of an object, etc, in a place where it does not belong. foreign body
(US, state law) From a different one of the states of the United States, as of a state of residence or incorporation.
Belonging to a different organization, company etc. My bank charges me $2.50 every time I use a foreign ATM.
In a way, you could say programming languages are foreign in the same sense as saying something like "Mario Kart is a foreign concept to a person who's never played a racing game before" or something. I.e. the 2nd definition.
