Programming language

While there is no universally agreed-upon definition for a programming language, multiple notable resolutions of it's meaning exist.

Definitions

1

In Allen Newell's and J.C. Shaw's 1957 "Programming the Logic Theory Machine", the term "programming language" is mentioned for the first time ever. They define it as:

"...a set of symbols and conventions that allows a programmer to specify to the computer what processes he wants carried out." (Page 5)

2

GitHub, a developer platform with over 150 million users, defined in 2024 a programming language in one of it's resource articles as:

"a set of instructions that enables humans to communicate with computers—using a series of symbols that serve as a bridge that allows humans to turn our ideas into instructions computers can understand."

3

The International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission most recently defined "programming language" in document ISO/IEC 2382:2015 as an:

"artificial language for expressing programs" (Entry 2121381)

whereas a "program" is defined in the same document as a:

"syntactic unit that conforms to the rules of a particular programming language and that is composed of declarations and statements or instructions needed to solve a certain function, task, or problem" (Entry 2121372)

Both definitions were pulled from a much earlier ISO document dated to 1993. ISO/IEC 2382:2015 was published in 2015.

4

The Encyclopedia Britannica article (written by Prof. David Hemmendinger and last updated in 2026) on "computer programming language" defines it as:

"...any of various languages for expressing a set of detailed instructions for a digital computer."

5

ScienceDirect, a vast academic journal and article database, defined it in 2013 as:

"a formal language that is used to write computer programs. It is the set of rules and instructions that a computer understands and executes to perform specific tasks."

6

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines "programming language" (synonymously with "computer language") as:

"a set of rules, words, etc. that are used for writing computer programs"