Rivulet: (gpn23)

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[Rivulet](https://github.com/rottytooth/Rivulet) eschews keywords entirely. This is not done to move *away* from natural language (as in APL's use of mathematical symbols) but instead to draw from an aspect of natural language usually ignored in prog language design: calligraphic writing. Rivulet code is written in flowing lines inspired by handwritten natural and constructed languages. Its logic is alien to most programming languages but makes perfect sense in support of its visual representation of tightly-packed tangles of lines. In this short talk, I'll introduce this new language alongside other esolangs that draw from less-considered aspects of natlangs and conlangs, embracing their ambiguity and expressive power. Here is a piece of code in the [Rivulet](https://github.com/rottytooth/Rivulet) language. It shows seven different ways to write the number zero: ``` 1 ╵ ╰──╮ ╭───╯╭──╯ 2 ╰─╮ ─┘ │╰─╮ └─ ╭─╮ 3 │╰──┐└─╴│╰───╯ │ 5 ╰─╮ ╰─╮ └─┐ ╭─╯ 7 ╶─┘ │ ╶─┘ ╰─╮ 11 ╶─┘ │ 13 ─╯╷ ``` Each zero is written as a *strand*, a tangle of which is called a *glyph*. Strands of different types each have their own reading in how they move through the glyph. The language's visual style is inspired by the satisfying compactness of mazes, Anni Albers's Meanders series, and space-filling algorithms. Its rules are more like a natural language that evolved over time than a typical programming language favoring clarity above all else. I will show how the rules for Rivulet came together and contrast the language with several other others that bring the ambiguity and expressiveness of natural language into code. This includes the polysemantic esolang [Valence](https://github.com/rottytooth/Valence) and an as-yet-unnamed alphabet that functions simultaneously as conlang and esolang. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.gulas.ch/gpn23/talk/97UGNG/