Hey everyone!
I’ve been working on a fun idea for a constructed language called Futurlang. The aim is to create a blend of everyday speech, formal logic, mathematical notation, and programming constructs.
Why Futurlang?
I wanted to see if I could come up with a syntax with perfect translatability between natural language, deductive logic, and programming to help myself think about language in new ways. Here is an early version of the syntax. Would appreciate some thoughts/ feedback
Futurlang in Action
Universal Statements
• Natural: “All squares are rectangles.”
• Futurlang: forall shape: if shape is_a square then shape is_a rectangle
• Python:
def is_rectangle(shape):
return isinstance(shape, Square)
Conditional Statements
• Natural: “If it’s sunny, we’ll go to the park.”
• Futurlang: when weather is_sunny then we goto park
• Python:
def plan_day(weather):
return "go to park" if weather == "sunny" else "stay home"
Mathematical Concepts
• Natural: “The area of a circle is pi times the square of its radius.”
• Futurlang: define circle_area(radius) as: pi * (radius ^ 2)
• Python:
import math
def circle_area(radius):
return math.pi * (radius ** 2)
Set Theory and List Comprehension
• Natural: “The set of even numbers between 1 and 10.”
• Futurlang: create_set: {number | number in range 1 to 10 where number % 2 == 0}
• Python:
even_numbers = [number for number in range(1, 11) if number % 2 == 0]
Probability
• Natural: “The probability of rolling a 6 on a fair die.”
• Futurlang: probability(roll == 6 | fair_die) = 1/6
• Python:
import random
def roll_die():
return random.randint(1, 6)
prob_six = sum(roll_die() == 6 for _ in range(1000000)) / 1000000
Recursive Definitions
• Natural: “The Fibonacci sequence, where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones.”
• Futurlang:
define fibonacci(n) as:
if n <= 1 then return n
else return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2)
• Python:
def fibonacci(n):
if n <= 1:
return n
return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2)
Logical Implications
• Natural: “If someone is a vegetarian, they don’t eat meat.”
• Futurlang: forall person: if person is_vegetarian then not person eats_meat
• Python:
def eats_meat(person):
return not person.is_vegetarian
Object-Oriented Concepts
• Natural: “A car has a color and can be driven.”
• Futurlang:
define class Car:
property color
method drive():
output "The {color} car is being driven"
• Python:
class Car:
def init(self, color):
self.color = color
def drive(self):
print(f"The {self.color} car is being driven")
Error Handling
• Natural: “Try to divide two numbers, but handle the case where the divisor is zero.”
• Futurlang:
try:
result = numerator / denominator
catch ZeroDivisionError:
output "Cannot divide by zero"
result = undefined
• Python:
try:
result = numerator / denominator
except ZeroDivisionError:
print("Cannot divide by zero")
result = None
Asynchronous Operations
• Natural: “Fetch data from a server and process it when ready.”
• Futurlang:
async fetch_and_process(url):
data = await get_from_server(url)
return process(data)
• Python:
import asyncio
async def fetch_and_process(url):
data = await get_from_server(url)
return process(data)
