Language design is often seen as difficult and unnecessary, left to foundations that largely serve corporate interests. Esolangs, the "esoteric" class of languages, offer a radical alternative. Abandoning practicality as the overriding concern, they explore other methods of coding and other reasons to do so. They allow programmers to build software by whistling or through the affect of text, by writing in First Nations languages and narratives, or even in the refusal to commit an algorithm to written form.

A language might be designed by one person but is rarely a solo effort. It finds its full expression when a community of practitioners explore it, discovering its nuance and character. The best esolangs surpass the intentions of their creators, becoming living languages. In this moment, when coding is in danger of becoming an AI-assisted subscription service, esolangs show how we can break from corporate interests, building language for our own use, for our own reasons.