https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/25/3914150/alb-programming-language-based-on-arabic-script

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Hello world: meet qlb, a programming language based on Arabic script

Hello world: meet qlb, a programming language based on Arabic script

By Janus Kopfstein

Source Animal New York

Jan 25, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

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Alb programming language [via Animal New York]
Alb programming language [via Animal New York]

In the Arab world, aspiring programmers are faced with a unique kind
of challenge: nearly every computer language, platform, and standard
in history has been built around a Latin character set -- a set of
symbols that, in many cases, is utterly mysterious to them. It's with
that in mind that computer scientist Ramsey Nasser has built qlb
(pronounced "Alb," lit. "heart"), a fully-functional programming
language based on Arabic script.

Historically, computers have never been very friendly in this
situation. When faced with Arabic, terminals and text editors either
crash or have no idea what to do. Nasser, a resident of the Eyebeam
technology lab who teaches programming to students around the world,
says it usually makes more sense to learn English before learning to
code. "That shocked me," he says in an interview with Animal New York
. "I believe that code and computation should be something anyone can
access." Previous attempts have been made, like AMMORIA, an open
source language that uses Arabic words. But Nasser's project doubles
as a kind of conceptual art piece, looking into the unique aesthetics
of Arabic script and how they can be made to function in a coding
environment.

`"Code and computation should be something anyone can access."'

At Eyebeam's latest Annual Showcase, Nasser demoed several small
programs he made with qlb, including the obligatory "Hello World," an
algorithm that computes Fibonacci numbers, and even a recreation of
the mathematical "zero-player game," Conway's Game of Life. The
language isn't perfect, and it probably will never be, seeing as how
pretty much all of the web's programming architecture is based in
English words. But it's at least a kind of poetic statement about
language and creativity, and maybe even a way to help demystify the
art of coding for others around the world.

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