Proposed Wikipedia Programming Language Theory topic

Hello,

I'm proposing a Programming Language Theory WikiProject on the English-language Wikipedia. A WikiProject, for those unfamiliar, is a group of Wikipedia editors who write and edit articles (for the Wikipedia) on specific topics, ensuring consistent quality, formatting, and such.

Note that this is not:

* A WikiSpaces project;
* Competition for, or redundant with, the proposed LTU wiki

Instead, it is a project to improve Wikipedia's coverage of these topics, which is currently spotty. The output of the project will be encyclopedia articles (new or improvements to existing articles) on subjects related to PLT theory.

As such, Wikipedia guidelines will need to be followed; the main ones which apply are:

* Verifiablity--any and all claims must be supported (or at least supportable) by references to the appropriate literature.
* NPOV--all significant sides of controversial issues need to be reflected--and again, attributed to sources outside of Wikipedia. (This does not mean we have to include the opionions of trolls and such--significant means significant). Statements and claims which are opinion or speculation are generally unwelcome, unless they can be externally sourced.
* No original research. This is not the place to discuss original ideas, publish research, or hold discussions on new or novel ideas. Nor is Wikipedia a discussion forum (though discussion relevant to the articles is welcome in the talk pages).

The focus is writing articles for an encyclopedia. (This is why this is not at all a replacement or competition for LtU, or the proposed LTU wiki).

One former Wikipedia policy which used to be in force, but has largely gone by the wayside, is the avoidance of specialist articles and subjects. Wikipedia currently hosts articles--understandable only by specialists in the field--on many topics, such as physics. Original research--as stated above--is out, but technical subjects well-supported in the primarly literature are welcome.

If you're interested, follow the link above (which points to a subpage of my homepage; I'm EngineerScotty on WP) and comment! If don't currently have a WP membership, creating an account is free and easy--the link to do so is at the top of every page on Wikipedia.

Thanks!

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WP CS

I fully support the goals of this project (Wikipedia CS coverage in general is pretty crummy). However, with that said...

I've already mentioned it on the talk page for the proposal, but thought I'd bring it up here too: there is a huge potential overlap between this project and the (slightly more broadly focused) WikiProject Computer science. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But if this project does get underway then it'll be important to make sure there's some kind of coordination between the two projects. OTOH, we could always use more members at WP CS... :-)