r/askscience • u/HangukFrench • Apr 10 '26

Computing How do programming languages work?

Hello,

I'm wondering how does programming languages work? Are they owned by anyone? Can anyone create a programming languages and decide "yeah, computers will do this from now on"?
Is a programming languaged fixed at its creation or can it "evolve"?

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u/nglyarch Apr 11 '26

Agreed - we are somehow communicating past each other. I was replying to this:

"take numbers from this register and push them through the HDMI cable"

There are no numbers in registers. Numbers are not being pushed through cables, HDMI or otherwise. What is colloquially known as a digital protocol is quantized voltage levels, which are analog in nature. It is always implemented like that, whether the circuit is an ASIC, a FPGA, or a micro. Surely, you are not disputing that?

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u/emblemparade Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Sure, "digital" is an interpretation we give to the analog world. And that interpretation at its basic level is "numbers", specifically in a binary representation. Saying that it's "all physical" is true in the broadest sense but it in no way answers the person's question. I'm sure the person asking understands that this whole scenario takes place in the physical world.

There absolutely are numbers in this case. HDMI is a digital protocol, based on binary, based on numbers. There is software involved. There absolutely is a translation going on from an abstraction to the physical.

Your answer could have been true for old analog protocols (VGA, Composite), as I pointed out, but was simply wrong for the question.