Polysemicolon; Novice Programmers and Java Keywords

Authors

• Briana C. Bettin, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Department

Department of Computer Science

Abstract

Most industrial programming languages leverage the English language for reserved keywords – words which a program compiler recognizes as specific execution commands. The divide between expert and novice programmers showcases an intriguing middle-ground by which the polysemy of many keywords becomes revealed. This essay explores a sampling of the multitude of keyword interpretations that a novice programmer may derive from the Java language’s syntactic style and keywords specifically, and how the polysemy of both “English” and “code” meanings to these terms affects the novice-expert programmer transition.The transition from novice to expert, and the mapping of the career of metaphor to these keywords as a part of that process, can have implications for both teaching and learning programming.

Publisher's Statement

© 2026 the author. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.63744/vkjvg9qd6rh3

Publication Title

Digital Humanities Quarterly

Recommended Citation

Bettin, B. C. (2026). Polysemicolon; Novice Programmers and Java Keywords. Digital Humanities Quarterly, 20(1). http://doi.org/10.63744/vkjvg9qd6rh3
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p2/2649

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF