Just computer languages for me - I am absolutely horrible with any spoken language besides my native tongue nor do they interest me. Meanwhile picking up new computer languages, libraries, and frameworks is a blast

I’m interested in Linguistics. Not deeply interested on the sets of instructions used by computers, although I know a bit of bash (does it count?).

I think that “programming languages” is at most an overused, overextended metaphor. It’s on the same level as saying that a language is “alive” - sure, you can get a few interesting outcomes from the metaphor, but you need to remember that metaphors become mushy once pulled and pushed hard enough.

For me it’s both.

Language interest came from hearing my grandparents speak another language as a child, and coding from exploring early windows/dos and seeing what computers could do. Both are fueled by a curiosity and desire to know more so I’d say they’re only loosely connected in that way.

I have interest in both types, but it is not like they are correlated. Computer languages are more logical and human languages are more abstract.

I wish. I speak spanish natively and english to a level I will codeswitch, very inconvenient among the older generation. I also learnt italian up to a B1 (and pass as italian, if the amount of people asking where from italy I’m from is any indication) and have a passing knowledge of german, enough to grasp the meaning of anything written down, as long as it’s not too complex.

Coding wise? Unless you consider html, css, and rudimentary knowledge of javascript coding, I’m not computer fluent.

I’m kinda interested in both, but mostly coding because linguistics often involves humans

I write code in a bunch of different languages without breaking a sweat, but the human spoken language has always been a mystery to me. I can barely handle one language, I’ve tried learning two others and failed miserably except for a very small handful of words.

Yes, i speak portuguese, english, python, c, and gdscript, i’m also learning french

Both are fascinating to me. I have also met a lot of people who are interested in both. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. There’s something really interesting about the way we can use symbols and signifiers to encode and transmit and preserve information. Any kind of information.

Coding requires you to say precisely what you mean. Give clear instructions. Define exactly the pieces you are working with. There is really no room for ambiguity, and there’s something really satisfying to the logical side of my brain about that kind of rigidity.

But that’s exactly why linguistics is interesting to the other side of my brain. Human language is full of fuzzy categories, changing definitions, unwritten rules, unspoken connotations, creative repurposing, borrowing, taboos… You can add dimensions of meaning with text, your voice, your eyes, the movement of your body. You can pack so much nuance into a single word or phrase; a subtle hint can mean so much more than what you are literally saying. You can intentionally encode a message so that it is NOT understood. There is infinite malleability in human language.

This is why it’s so exciting to see such progress in natural language processing. Large language models kind of blur the lines and begin to “understand” and respond to the ambiguities of the way we use language (at least in a kind of probabilistic sense). But they are also learning our programming languages. Right now, we can converse with AI models that can write (basic) code for us and with us, and make changes based on our conversational language. Imagine one day programming in plain language without that intermediary step!

I have an interest in both and i do think those two interests are related for me.

Also both for me ! (even subscribed to programmer_humor and also linguistics_humor here on Lemmy)

Story time:
When I was at school, I hated languages (as a native French, English was a PAIN for me), but already was programming for fun outside school. Since I finished school, I grown interest in linguistics as well. I think for me it’s more because manga and animes, and because I am curious, so I wanted to understand all the little parts in texts… So I learned Japanse, then improved my English… then went curious about chinese… Spanish… And at this point, I don’t even learn new languages (too much time), I only searched for differences, construction and all; and that is where I discovered Linguistics basically.

Difference between human & computer language:
I heard that part of the brain that process Human language and Computer language is the same, that may be the reason, idk

They seems to be really different though, you don’t “Speak” or write a computer program like you write a text or a poem, it’s a totally different thinking process. The same way, you never read code from top to bottom left to right (reason why unindented code is AWFUL to read), it’s more about looking around what’s going on, to understand what the whole is doing. Sentences are way less dependent on the context (and WAYYYYY less dependent on what follows) to understand them.

But in a way, with time, we lean patterns, and know to recognize them (both in human and computer language), that may be the reason why they are both on the same part of the brain

I like both. I know a few human languages fluently and I’m also interested in learning new programming languages, even if they end up not being very useful for me in the end.

Both! I have traveled internationally and always try to learn enough of the local language to at least show some respect for people’s cultures. If I were to pursue an advanced degree and didn’t care about money, it would be in linguistics. I also use or have used a lot of computer languages, so maybe that’s it, it’s not just programming, it’s collecting more ways to express yourself.

I like both! But it never occurred to me that there’s correlation

i fucking love linguistics and phonetics but i can’t code for the life of me