# What programming language is Kontakt Scripting based on?



## Beluga (Jul 10, 2019)

Title says it all, hope this is not too obvious or previously discussed. Just wondering to get some background and get better at scripting.

I would imagine NI didn't invent their own language from scratch?


----------



## Lindon (Jul 10, 2019)

yep - they did.


----------



## Mike Greene (Jul 10, 2019)

It’s their own language, but it looks a whole lot like PASCAL.


----------



## Beluga (Jul 10, 2019)

Thanks, appreciate it!


----------



## EvilDragon (Jul 10, 2019)

Yeah, syntax is leaning heavily on the Pascal side of things.


----------



## tack (Jul 10, 2019)

The syntax does seem Pascal-inspired, although the semantics and expressiveness of the language are clearly from the mind of a deranged sadomasochist.


----------



## EvilDragon (Jul 10, 2019)

Hey, at least it's not Brainfuck.


----------



## Mike Greene (Jul 10, 2019)

That PASCAL similarity is what got me into this. 10 or 12 years ago, I was reading some thread here and somebody posted some code. Surprisingly, that code snippet made sense to me. I was a Math major in college with an emphasis in Probability/Statistics, but along the way, I had taken a few computer classes (FORTRAN, BASIC and PASCAL), so that PASCAL syntax was something I understood. Specific commands were different, of course, but that's the easy part since you can just look up commands in the manual ... and ask Mario about the ones you can't figure out. 

Cocky bastard that I am, that's when I thought to myself, _"Hey, I'll bet I could write a basic legato script and do a better vocal instrument than EW's 'Voices of Passion'."_ I had no intention of making a company or anything like that, I just thought it would be a fun challenge to make a simple oo and ah instrument for my own use.


----------



## TGV (Jul 10, 2019)

tack said:


> the semantics and expressiveness of the language are clearly from the mind of a deranged sadomasochist.


I originally thought that it had evolved from a super simple scripting language to something akin to Anomalocaris Canadensis under the pressure of demanding library developers, while not losing backwards compatibility, but your explanation makes more sense.


----------

