# How are computer languages written?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-computer-languages-written/494072
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 23, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-computer-languages-written/494072 "2009-04-23T06:40:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-computer-languages-written/494072/41 "2009-04-23T23:09:18Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Ubuntu is a Linux distro, meaning it’s the Linux kernel plus a lot of other software to make it usable. Linux is a variety of Unix but don’t tell the lawyers that: The name ‘Unix’ is owned by The Open Group and the Linux development team hasn’t licensed it. In every way that matters, though, Linux is a Unix.
And Mac OS X 10.5 running on Intel hardware _is_ Unix (with eye candy on top). It’s passed the tests and [bears the Unix mark](http://www.apple.com/ca/macosx/technology/unix.html), licensed from the Open Group. Furthermore, I also run Windows XP on the same machine. So my Mac is a PC and also a Unix workstation. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-computer-languages-written/494072/42 "2009-04-23T23:56:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I should really know better than to oversimplify like I did, in this crowd. I did not know, though, that trig functions are implemented in hardware nowadays… That’s interesting. Nor did I know that c++ stores actual meaty source code in the .h files.
It’s usually due to templates. STL as well as the Boost libraries have a good deal of functionality in the header files, though they still have some code in libraries that are linked in at link- or load-time.
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