Citrine Programming Language

Why Citrine?

Citrine is simple, minimalist, localized programming language following the Kayan philosophy¹, for developers who prefer to write code in their native language without having English keywords in the mix. Citrine has been engineered specifically to play well with any natural human language. Citrine features a very limited yet flexible (and language agnostic) grammar and lacks unnecessary complex concepts like classes, string interpolation syntax and data-types (everything is an object), making it easy to learn and remember. Citrine also features localized numbers, dates and punctuation. Localization can be seen as the final step in producing a more readable and maintainable programming language. Coding and studying in your own language has been proven to have a positive impact on learning outcomes² and quality^3,4. Citrine can also translate code. Citrine is referenced in relevant scientific literature⁵. 1. After the Philosophy of American Computer Scientist Dr. Alan Kay (regarded as inventor of Object Oriented Programming) 2. Learning to Code in Localized Programming Languages (MIT) 3. Effects of localization on Exceptions in Java 4. Engelstaligonderwijs slecht voor studie (PDF)   5. Scientific Paper India (PDF)  

What is the purpose of Citrine?

The Citrine Project aims to create (in order of importance) an extremely simple, minimalist, pure object oriented, localized programming language to improve the maintainability of code and lower barriers. Please consider these fundamental principles if you consider to contribute code.

Why is this page in English?

As a developer, you have to know some English. Nobody is going to change that anytime soon. Writing complex logic in a foreign language is something different though. Citrine allows you to put your thoughts into the words of the language you know best: your mother tongue. That being said, if you want to translate a manual page, feel free to help!

Who are the users?

Citrine can be used as a general purpose programming language by developers who wish to improve maintainability and readability by writing minimalist, pure object code in their native language. Citrine also allows you to discuss and explain critical business logic with your customers, thus allowing them to verify its correctness. Also, Citrine can be embedded into serverless cloud or FAAS^* platforms as a localized scripting language. Another option is to embed Citrine as localized DSL^** for power users in a SAAS-solution^***, to lower adoption barriers and reach new audiences. Furthermore, Citrine can be used to teach programming in a language agnostic way at schools and universities. Finally, Citrine is a research project to analyse the impact of localization on programming. *FAAS: Function as a Service **DSL: Domain specific language ***SAAS: Software as a service

Can I contribute?

Sure, Citrine is open source (Licensed BSD^1,2) and we can share code using e-mail or Github or other systems. See the plug-in wishlist for a start! Citrine is written in C. The Citrine Project is apolitical. 1. BSD License explained 2. Citrine Programming Language License on website

Other questions?
Consult the Extended Technical FAQ >.

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