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INTRODUCTION
The first thought that comes after reading the heading of this blog is the minimal or negligible status of Hindi in the technical regime. Some even may go aggressive after considering the above “thoughts” of some people. Writing about the “thoughts” of the people who are chauvinistic towards their language would deviate from the topic. Now, it is cleared that neither “thought” will be entertained in this blog.
What is the technical regime? It is related to the Information and Technology sector. In this sector, everything is controlled by the computer along with the internet, smart devices like Alexa, Google Home Mini; and nowadays artificial intelligence is a vast and expanding field. The technical regime began with the invention of the first mechanical computer in the early 19th century and the computer kept on evolving with the passing of years. The programming language was developed in the mid 20th century. The Internet came in 1983 which revolutionized the whole IT sector. India also saw development in the IT sector. Internet was introduced in India in 1986 and in 1995 it was made available to the public. Then the world sees the big giants in the IT sector like Google, Facebook, etc. From that time juncture, the prevalence or dominance of any language can be traced.
There are two factors to know the prevalence of any language in the IT sector. These are (1) the number of users of a particular language and (2) the number of programming languages. The second factor depends on the first factor. The larger the base of users the larger number of programming languages will be developed.
THE NUMBER OF USERS
A study, named Indian languages: defining India's internet, was conducted by KPMG in India and google in 2017. It provided data of the Indian language users on the internet. The report defined the Indian language users as those people who prefer their primary language over English. In 2011, the number of English users was more than Indian language users. In 2016, the number of users was 409 million and in 2021 it will be 735 million. Hindi users will surpass the number of English users by 2021. The number of internet users of a particular language increases when information is available in that language. As the efficiency of the IT companies is increasing, they are making the information available in the language which has a large number of speakers. This makes the win-win situation for both company and user. Companies get access to a large number of people and users to get information.
What is the benefit of a large number of users of a particular language? A large number of users of a particular language shows that much information is available in that language. Otherwise, it will be of no use for the people who do not know the language other than theirs. It is the 21st century which is the age of the internet and may also become the age of artificial intelligence. What will be the use of these greatest weapons which contain the power to change the world?
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
Programming languages began to be developed in the mid 20th century. What is the use of programming language? The programming language is the input for computers or related things. They are used to set the algorithms which gave specific output. Java, C++, JavaScript, and Python are some of the prominent programming languages. Many of the earliest languages are scripted in English. Although now programming languages are being developed in non-English languages also. Hindawi programming system is based on Hindi, Gujarati, and Bengali languages. It is also a prominent language and has won many awards. Kalaam is also Hindi based programming language.
What is the use of to make programming languages available in other languages? There are many benefits to developing programming languages. One is to help the people of that language who may have to learn another language to work on the programming language. The other may be one of the ways to keep the language alive. Who knows how the future will be?
HINDI AT WORLD STAGE IN TECHNICAL REGIME
The first factor is solely based on the population and its advancement. It does not represent the use of Hindi on the world stage. Approximately, every language has its presence in the IT sector. What makes the influential power of any language in the IT sector is the prevalence of that language worldwide, programming language scripted in that language. English is accepted as the common language in the world. This has its history. Big IT sector giants which are spread worldwide need the common medium to interact. To take the place of English in that matter is somewhat near too impossible because English became the world language during the colonial rule of the Britishers and which is impossible at the current time for any country. The one way is through soft power. The second factor, which is the programming language in Hindi, is not as strong as the other languages. The strength of any programming language is determined by the number of functions that can be performed. Big tech giants do not use the locally developed programming language. They use which are already developed and keep on improving like Java, C++, Python. These programming languages are considered among the best language. One more reason not to use any locally developed programming language is the language itself. It is not used worldwide and Thus, how can it be used in different parts of the world to develop programs. The other way to increase the influence is to develop strong programming languages and which is possible only by proper use of resources and research. It requires the cost which can be bear by a big tech giant or government.
REFERENCES
1. Non-English-based programming languages, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Non-English-based_programming_languages&oldid=1007613417 (last visited Feb. 19, 2021).
2. Admin, How Coding Becomes Easy for Indians (2020) |Kalaam Programming, Techtraveldine. in (Nov 22, 2020), https://techtraveldine.in/how-coding-becomes-easy-kalaam-programming-hindi/.
3. KPMG in India & Google, Indian Languages-Defining India’s Internet (2017), https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/04/Indian-languages-Defining-Indias-Internet.pdf.