English in computing

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The English language is sometimes described as the lingua franca of computing. In comparison to other sciences, where Latin and Greek are often the principal sources of vocabulary, computer science borrows more extensively from English. In the past, due to the technical limitations of early computers, and the lack of international standardization on the Internet, computer users were limited to using English and the Latin alphabet. However, this historical limitation is less present today, due to innovations in internet infrastructure and increases in computer speed. Most software products are localized in numerous languages and the invention of the Unicode character encoding has resolved problems with non-Latin alphabets. Some limitations have only been changed recently,^[when?] such as with domain names, which previously allowed only ASCII characters.

English is seen as having this role due to the prominence of the United States and the United Kingdom, both English-speaking countries, in the development and popularization of computer systems, computer networks, software and information technology.