# langwhy

> Why every programming language exists, what it trades away, and where it won. One card per language with sources. Data is CC0 (public domain).

Each card answers: born from (the concrete pain), trades away (memory, types, run, concurrency, cost), where it won (named deployments with sources), alive (status, timeline). Cards marked draft were written by an agent and not yet verified by a human.

## Languages
- [Bash](https://langwhy.dev/lang/bash.md): Command language and shell of the GNU Project, for running programs and writing scripts. (draft)
- [C](https://langwhy.dev/lang/c.md): Programming language for operating systems and other code that has to work close to the hardware. (draft)
- [C#](https://langwhy.dev/lang/csharp.md): Language for building .NET applications, from web services and desktop apps to Unity game scripts. (draft)
- [C++](https://langwhy.dev/lang/cpp.md): Compiled language that adds classes, templates and manual memory control to C. (draft)
- [Dart](https://langwhy.dev/lang/dart.md): Language for building Flutter apps, compiled ahead of time to native code or to JavaScript. (draft)
- [Elixir](https://langwhy.dev/lang/elixir.md): Functional language for concurrent server applications that runs on the Erlang virtual machine (BEAM). (draft)
- [Go](https://langwhy.dev/lang/go.md): Compiled language with garbage collection and goroutines, made for networked servers and cloud tools. (draft)
- [Haskell](https://langwhy.dev/lang/haskell.md): Purely functional, lazily evaluated language for writing programs as typed functions. (draft)
- [Java](https://langwhy.dev/lang/java.md): Language for server and enterprise software, compiled to bytecode that runs on the Java virtual machine. (draft)
- [JavaScript](https://langwhy.dev/lang/javascript.md): The language that runs inside web browsers, and on servers through Node.js. (draft)
- [Kotlin](https://langwhy.dev/lang/kotlin.md): Statically typed language for JVM and Android apps that compiles alongside existing Java code. (draft)
- [Lua](https://langwhy.dev/lang/lua.md): Embeddable scripting language for adding logic and configuration to a host program. (draft)
- [PHP](https://langwhy.dev/lang/php.md): Server-side scripting language for web pages and web applications. (draft)
- [Python](https://langwhy.dev/lang/python.md): General-purpose language for scripts, automation, web backends and data analysis. (draft)
- [Ruby](https://langwhy.dev/lang/ruby.md): Object-oriented scripting language, best known for the Rails web framework. (draft)
- [Rust](https://langwhy.dev/lang/rust.md): Memory-safe systems programming without a garbage collector. (draft)
- [SQL](https://langwhy.dev/lang/sql.md): Declarative language for defining, changing and querying data in relational databases. (draft)
- [Swift](https://langwhy.dev/lang/swift.md): Programming language for building apps on Apple platforms such as iOS and macOS. (draft)
- [TypeScript](https://langwhy.dev/lang/typescript.md): Static types for JavaScript code, removed at compile time so the output is plain JavaScript. (draft)
- [Zig](https://langwhy.dev/lang/zig.md): Systems language meant to replace C, with no hidden control flow or hidden allocations. (draft)

## Slots
- [browser](https://langwhy.dev/slot/browser/): Code that runs in the user's browser.
- [server](https://langwhy.dev/slot/server/): The backend: requests, logic, APIs.
- [database](https://langwhy.dev/slot/database/): Where the data lives and how you ask for it.
- [systems](https://langwhy.dev/slot/systems/): Operating systems, drivers, runtimes, anything close to the metal.
- [mobile](https://langwhy.dev/slot/mobile/): Native apps on phones.
- [cli](https://langwhy.dev/slot/cli/): Command-line tools.
- [scripts](https://langwhy.dev/slot/scripts/): Glue, automation, one-off jobs.
- [data](https://langwhy.dev/slot/data/): Analysis, statistics, machine learning.
- [compute](https://langwhy.dev/slot/compute/): GPU and heavy numeric work, AI inference.
- [embedded](https://langwhy.dev/slot/embedded/): Microcontrollers and devices with kilobytes of memory.
- [wasm](https://langwhy.dev/slot/wasm/): WebAssembly, in and outside the browser.
- [config](https://langwhy.dev/slot/config/): Infrastructure as code, build definitions, settings.
- [games](https://langwhy.dev/slot/games/): Game engines and gameplay code.

## Data
- [All cards as JSON](https://langwhy.dev/api/v1/languages.json)
- [Everything as one Markdown file](https://langwhy.dev/llms-full.txt)
- [Repository, schema and contribution rules](https://github.com/langwhy/langwhy)