Most software systems are not single processes written in a single programming language. Instead, systems are composed of a suite of processes, often written by separate parties. Even when every process is written in the same language, there is another language present, emerging from the interfaces, protocols, facilities and semantics the components offer to each other. Unlike most programming languages, these emergent languages are ad hoc, incomplete and poorly specified, with quirky semantics. In this talk we'll look at the roles these emergent languages play in the system as a whole, their characteristics, and the choices involved, drawing analogies to the facilities programming languages and their runtimes provide. We'll also look at what programming languages might learn from the requirements of systems.

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