Daniel Temkin's Book Launch: Free Talk + Signing (Grand Theater)

"In Forty-Four Esolangs, Daniel Temkin challenges conventional definitions of language, code, and computer, showing the potential of esolangs-or esoteric programming languages-as pure idea art. The languages in this volume ask programmers to write code in the form of prayer to the Greek gods, or as a pattern of empty folders, or to type code in tandem with another programmer, each with one hand on the keyboard, their rhythm and synchrony signifying computer action."

"Esolangs are a collaborative form. Each language is a complete world of thought, where esoprogrammers build on the work of esolangers to make new discoveries. The language Velato, for instance, asks programmers to write music as code; while the language creates constraints for the programmer, each programmer brings their own coding and musical sensibility to the language. Other pieces are pure poetic suggestion in the legacy of Yoko Ono's event scores."

"Temkin includes languages written over the past fifteen years, along with some designed especially for this book. Other pieces are left as prompts for the reader to simply consider or perhaps to implement on their own. These ask the programmer to, for example, follow the paths of the clouds over a single day and construct a language in response that uses those movements as code. Just as Ben Vautier claimed everything is art, this book blurs the lines between computation and everything else."

Forty-Four Esolangs assembles forty-four esoteric programming languages that reconceive language, code, and computation as idea-based art. Languages require unconventional inputs and actions: writing code as prayer to Greek gods, arranging empty folders as program structure, or typing in tandem with another person so rhythm and synchrony determine computation. The collection spans fifteen years and includes pieces created especially for the title as well as open prompts for readers to implement. Esolangs operate collaboratively, with practitioners building on each other's systems; examples include Velato, which frames music as executable code, and event-score–style conceptual prompts.

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