Growing a Language, by Guy Steele

What this video covers

Guy Steele's 1998 OOPSLA keynote on designing a programming language that its users can grow. He builds the talk using only one-syllable words and terms he has defined, to demonstrate the idea.

Why it surfaced in Hacker News

HN considers it one of the best technical talks ever and cites it in discussions of language design, small cores and extensibility.

Recommendation context

Short excerpts from positive mentions. Open the source to read the full Hacker News discussion.

“It's still one of the best technical talks I've ever come across.”

“Brilliant speech about how to grow languages and why it's necessary.”

“which is one of my absolute favorites”