Join us this Wednesday for a special workshop: Esolangs for Artists with @dtemkin.bsky.social . Discover where code meets art and explore the colorful world of esoteric languages. No prior knowledge needed! The event will be in English. Don't miss out!
zurl.co/GvOAl
zurl.co/GvOAl
Esolangs for Artists – workshop with Daniel Temkin - Računalniški muzej
What happens when programming languages aim not at functionality and efficiency, but at irritation and reflection, or act like poetry? In this beginner-friendly workshop, we’ll explore esolangs: languages that do exactly that. They include code written as images, as sound, or in forms that no computer can decode. Each esolang offers a new take on
zurl.co
September 28, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Join us this Wednesday for a special workshop: Esolangs for Artists with @dtemkin.bsky.social . Discover where code meets art and explore the colorful world of esoteric languages. No prior knowledge needed! The event will be in English. Don't miss out!
zurl.co/GvOAl
zurl.co/GvOAl
Join us this Wednesday for a special workshop: Esolangs for Artists with Daniel Temkin! Discover where code meets art and explore the colorful world of esoteric languages. No prior knowledge needed! The event will be in English. Don't miss out!
zurl.co/2XaZX
zurl.co/2XaZX
September 28, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Join us this Wednesday for a special workshop: Esolangs for Artists with Daniel Temkin! Discover where code meets art and explore the colorful world of esoteric languages. No prior knowledge needed! The event will be in English. Don't miss out!
zurl.co/2XaZX
zurl.co/2XaZX
And yes, I'm fully aware that this looks very much like Entropy from @dtemkin.bsky.social's 44 esolangs...
esolangs.org/wiki/Entropy
esolangs.org/wiki/Entropy
Entropy - Esolang
esolangs.org
September 24, 2026 at 9:16 AM
And yes, I'm fully aware that this looks very much like Entropy from @dtemkin.bsky.social's 44 esolangs...
esolangs.org/wiki/Entropy
esolangs.org/wiki/Entropy
To be honest I feel this a lot, but its own version of it. I basically grew up on niche hobby communities (esolangs, conwaylifelounge, flairwars, sagehold, TVTropes...) and I feel like there was a noble equilibrium there, that is worth saving
September 22, 2026 at 12:28 AM
To be honest I feel this a lot, but its own version of it. I basically grew up on niche hobby communities (esolangs, conwaylifelounge, flairwars, sagehold, TVTropes...) and I feel like there was a noble equilibrium there, that is worth saving
It be nice if there was a forgejo instance just for esolangs.
September 21, 2026 at 3:34 AM
It be nice if there was a forgejo instance just for esolangs.
I was going to say something like "oh god" but then remembered other esolangs and you know what that would fit right in with stuff like Chef and LOLCODE
September 17, 2026 at 8:54 PM
I was going to say something like "oh god" but then remembered other esolangs and you know what that would fit right in with stuff like Chef and LOLCODE
September 15, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Programming can take many different forms. It can even be art! We are thrilled to announce we'll be hosting a workshop with @dtemkin.bsky.social , where anyone can discover very special programming techniques for artists!
www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/event/eso...
www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/event/eso...
Esolangs for Artists – workshop with Daniel Temkin - Računalniški muzej
What happens when programming languages aim not at functionality and efficiency, but at irritation and reflection, or act like poetry? In this beginner-friendly workshop, we’ll explore esolangs: languages that do exactly that. They include code written as images, as sound, or in forms that no computer can decode. Each esolang offers a new take on
www.racunalniski-muzej.si
September 10, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Programming can take many different forms. It can even be art! We are thrilled to announce we'll be hosting a workshop with @dtemkin.bsky.social , where anyone can discover very special programming techniques for artists!
www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/event/eso...
www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/event/eso...
The only pushback I’ve had about making esolangs as art has been from a small group of algorithmic artists who really should know better... most esolangers don’t think of their own work as art but are cool with my doing so
art history is basically the story of humans making new things, being told by the establishment/tradition that it can’t be art, and then persisting long enough til their work is accepted as art, and then those same artists turn around and tell the next wave that the next new thing can’t be art
sometimes I think about the commentators of the time of photography's emergence and their confident assertions that photography is not and cannot ever be art
September 9, 2026 at 3:15 PM
The only pushback I’ve had about making esolangs as art has been from a small group of algorithmic artists who really should know better... most esolangers don’t think of their own work as art but are cool with my doing so
"well if LLMs are so bad then how come some guy i know into esoteric languages uses them to write python! surely you can't tell me he doesnt know what he's talking about!"
uh, yeah, actually, if you're into esolangs and can't do fucking python such that you use the slopbot, then you don't know […]
uh, yeah, actually, if you're into esolangs and can't do fucking python such that you use the slopbot, then you don't know […]
Original post on infosec.exchange
infosec.exchange
September 6, 2026 at 10:40 PM
"well if LLMs are so bad then how come some guy i know into esoteric languages uses them to write python! surely you can't tell me he doesnt know what he's talking about!"
uh, yeah, actually, if you're into esolangs and can't do fucking python such that you use the slopbot, then you don't know […]
uh, yeah, actually, if you're into esolangs and can't do fucking python such that you use the slopbot, then you don't know […]
(I also see some nature of art in very compact/clever esolangs and Busy Beavers, but in these cases AI hasn't replaced anything)
September 6, 2026 at 9:01 PM
(I also see some nature of art in very compact/clever esolangs and Busy Beavers, but in these cases AI hasn't replaced anything)
But like painting I see hand coding software more like an extension of my own personal taste, sort of like #esolangs fose unfamiliar.
Youve seen them: Pig, Brainfuck, and other joke languages. The strangeness here is my language was never meant to become practical and yet somehow became useful.
Youve seen them: Pig, Brainfuck, and other joke languages. The strangeness here is my language was never meant to become practical and yet somehow became useful.
September 1, 2026 at 3:08 AM
But like painting I see hand coding software more like an extension of my own personal taste, sort of like #esolangs fose unfamiliar.
Youve seen them: Pig, Brainfuck, and other joke languages. The strangeness here is my language was never meant to become practical and yet somehow became useful.
Youve seen them: Pig, Brainfuck, and other joke languages. The strangeness here is my language was never meant to become practical and yet somehow became useful.
All the listings above come from one source program in Turpentine (a nod to Alan Perlis), a small imperative language, with compilers to twelve of the esolangs. Ten of those are certified: derived from the completeness proofs, correct by construction (but useless).
August 31, 2026 at 12:11 PM
All the listings above come from one source program in Turpentine (a nod to Alan Perlis), a small imperative language, with compilers to twelve of the esolangs. Ten of those are certified: derived from the completeness proofs, correct by construction (but useless).
Brainfuck (1993) is, arguably, one of the best-known esolangs and a starting point for many others, thanks to its tiny specification. It is, essentially, a Turing machine in disguise: its eight one-character commands operate on a tape of bytes.
Here it is computing 42:
Here it is computing 42:
August 31, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Brainfuck (1993) is, arguably, one of the best-known esolangs and a starting point for many others, thanks to its tiny specification. It is, essentially, a Turing machine in disguise: its eight one-character commands operate on a tape of bytes.
Here it is computing 42:
Here it is computing 42:
The reason to do so in Lean was (a) to substantiate folklore arguments surrounding many esolangs: whether they are Turing-complete or not, and (b) to produce a bunch of EsoCompCerts.
Here are some of the most interesting specimens from my PL zoo:
Here are some of the most interesting specimens from my PL zoo:
August 31, 2026 at 12:09 PM
The reason to do so in Lean was (a) to substantiate folklore arguments surrounding many esolangs: whether they are Turing-complete or not, and (b) to produce a bunch of EsoCompCerts.
Here are some of the most interesting specimens from my PL zoo:
Here are some of the most interesting specimens from my PL zoo:
As a Programming Language nerd, I have a soft spot for esoteric languages (esolangs), which are built by enthusiasts for fun and to make a point. Over the weekend I started collecting them in Lean, so, please, meet Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, PL edition:
github.com/ilyasergey/l... →
github.com/ilyasergey/l... →
August 31, 2026 at 12:08 PM
As a Programming Language nerd, I have a soft spot for esoteric languages (esolangs), which are built by enthusiasts for fun and to make a point. Over the weekend I started collecting them in Lean, so, please, meet Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, PL edition:
github.com/ilyasergey/l... →
github.com/ilyasergey/l... →
Cat's Eye Technologies
Unlikely
2009
A programming language that conflates objects with continuations and insists on dependency injection.
codeberg.org/catseye/Unli...
#proglang #programminglanguage #experimental #programming #language #weirdness #oop #pathological #esolang #esolangs
Unlikely
2009
A programming language that conflates objects with continuations and insists on dependency injection.
codeberg.org/catseye/Unli...
#proglang #programminglanguage #experimental #programming #language #weirdness #oop #pathological #esolang #esolangs
August 17, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Cat's Eye Technologies
Unlikely
2009
A programming language that conflates objects with continuations and insists on dependency injection.
codeberg.org/catseye/Unli...
#proglang #programminglanguage #experimental #programming #language #weirdness #oop #pathological #esolang #esolangs
Unlikely
2009
A programming language that conflates objects with continuations and insists on dependency injection.
codeberg.org/catseye/Unli...
#proglang #programminglanguage #experimental #programming #language #weirdness #oop #pathological #esolang #esolangs
Cat's Eye Technologies
Tamsin
2014
codeberg.org/catseye/Tamsin
#metalanguage #grammar #parser #parsergenerator #yacc #attributegrammar #textprocessing #rubbishlister #compiler #bootstrap #esolang #esolangs #codegolf #golfyourgrammar
Tamsin
2014
codeberg.org/catseye/Tamsin
#metalanguage #grammar #parser #parsergenerator #yacc #attributegrammar #textprocessing #rubbishlister #compiler #bootstrap #esolang #esolangs #codegolf #golfyourgrammar
August 9, 2026 at 9:02 AM
"Claude solves decades-long open problem about computational power of experimental programming language"
is far too sensationalist a headline.
"Random nerd uses Claude Code to debug a compiler no one really cares about"
is much better. #esolang #esolangs #proof
codeberg.org/catseye/Burr...
is far too sensationalist a headline.
"Random nerd uses Claude Code to debug a compiler no one really cares about"
is much better. #esolang #esolangs #proof
codeberg.org/catseye/Burr...
August 2, 2026 at 7:28 PM
"Claude solves decades-long open problem about computational power of experimental programming language"
is far too sensationalist a headline.
"Random nerd uses Claude Code to debug a compiler no one really cares about"
is much better. #esolang #esolangs #proof
codeberg.org/catseye/Burr...
is far too sensationalist a headline.
"Random nerd uses Claude Code to debug a compiler no one really cares about"
is much better. #esolang #esolangs #proof
codeberg.org/catseye/Burr...
Rice purity test but for esolangs
August 1, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Rice purity test but for esolangs
Cat's Eye Technologies
Burro
2007, revised 2010
A brainfuck-like language where every program has a corresponding anti-program that will annihilate it
#esolang #esolangs #brainfuck #programminglanguages #reversiblecomputing #grouptheory
Burro
2007, revised 2010
A brainfuck-like language where every program has a corresponding anti-program that will annihilate it
#esolang #esolangs #brainfuck #programminglanguages #reversiblecomputing #grouptheory
Burro
A language whose denoted programs form a group under program concatenation
codeberg.org
July 24, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Cat's Eye Technologies
Burro
2007, revised 2010
A brainfuck-like language where every program has a corresponding anti-program that will annihilate it
#esolang #esolangs #brainfuck #programminglanguages #reversiblecomputing #grouptheory
Burro
2007, revised 2010
A brainfuck-like language where every program has a corresponding anti-program that will annihilate it
#esolang #esolangs #brainfuck #programminglanguages #reversiblecomputing #grouptheory
Funge will be officially released on July 20th! in one last week! #indiegame #indiedev #esolang #esolangs
July 13, 2026 at 4:53 AM
Funge will be officially released on July 20th! in one last week! #indiegame #indiedev #esolang #esolangs
Anonymous asked: Give me a cursed programming language but make it obscure and open source
(no esolangs, it has to be something people actually use)
Cobol
(no esolangs, it has to be something people actually use)
Cobol
July 5, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Anonymous asked: Give me a cursed programming language but make it obscure and open source
(no esolangs, it has to be something people actually use)
Cobol
(no esolangs, it has to be something people actually use)
Cobol
It makes sense in an enthusiast context. But I don't think every anti AI poaster is secretly a coding enthusiast. If that was the case they would be too busy smelling bad and talking about haskell compilers for esolangs
June 20, 2026 at 3:45 PM
It makes sense in an enthusiast context. But I don't think every anti AI poaster is secretly a coding enthusiast. If that was the case they would be too busy smelling bad and talking about haskell compilers for esolangs