2 WAT

The WAT talk may be the first instance of programming languages as stand-up comedy (for suitable values of “comedy”).

Watch the talk.

Then find three more behaviors that one might consider surprising in your choice of Python, Ruby, JavaScript, R, or Matlab. If you want to use a language not in this list, feel free to ask. So long as it’s intended for regular use—whether Java or Julia or Swift or Racket or Haskell or OCaml or Erlang or …—we’ll most probably be okay with your using it. All we’re trying to do is eliminate any obviously silly choices.

A “behavior” may have multiple parts: it may be the juxtaposition of these parts that lead to the surprise. Your three behaviors can come from different languages.

In short, make your own WAT talk.We mean that as a euphemism. You’re not being asked to make a video! Nor even to include laugh-lines.

Explain why one might find each of these examples surprising.