https://coptr.digipres.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=LinguistLinguist - Revision history2026-05-25T03:50:29ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.14https://coptr.digipres.org/index.php?title=Linguist&diff=6592&oldid=prevRoss-spencer: Initial entry2026-03-30T12:16:53Z<p>Initial entry</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox tool<br />
|purpose=Identify the breakdown of programming languages used in a GitHub repository, or the anticipated language of an individual file<br />
|homepage=https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/tree/main<br />
|tool_status=Maintained<br />
|sourcecode=https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/tree/main<br />
|license=MIT<br />
|cost=Free and Open Source (FOSS)<br />
|language=Ruby<br />
|function=Content Profiling, File Format Identification<br />
}}<br />
== Description ==<br />
<!-- Describe the what the tool does, focusing on it's digital preservation value. Keep it factual. --><br />
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Identify the breakdown of programming languages used in a GitHub repository, or the anticipated language of an individual file. <br />
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The most well-known output of linguist's process is the language breakdown graph shown on a repository on GitHub documenting the percentage of languages used along with a small chart visualizing that breakdown.<br />
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Unlike utilities like DROID, based on PRONOM, which rely on pattern matching to identify, in this case programming language, and thus, file format, GitHub's linguist is deterministic and uses a series of decision making strategies to determine the potential file format.<br />
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=== Algorithm === <br />
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Linguist uses a number of strategies to reduce the amount of inputs it is dealing with including excluding binary objects and those identified as data before applying a series of identification strategies to try and determine the programming language used across a GitHub repository or an individual file. <br />
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Its algorithm is described in more detail [https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/blob/537297cdae3ab05f8d5dd1c03627a5bd73707b19/docs/how-linguist-works.md on GitHub].<br />
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Among its strategies, linguist lists the following checks:<br />
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* Vim or Emacs modeline,<br />
* commonly used filename,<br />
* shell shebang,<br />
* file extension,<br />
* XML header,<br />
* man page section,<br />
* heuristics,<br />
* naïve Bayesian classification<br />
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== User Experiences ==<br />
<!-- Add hotlinks to user experiences with the tool (eg. blog posts). These should illustrate the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the tool. Use a bullet list. --><br />
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* [https://blog.jakelee.co.uk/adding-github-language-with-linguist/ How to add a programming language to GitHub] Jake Lee on Software.<br />
* [https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/discussions Linguist Discussions] on GitHub.<br />
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= Development Activity =<br />
<!-- Provide *evidence* of development activity of the tool. For example, RSS feeds for code issues or commits. --><br />
All development activity is visible on GitHub: https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/commits<br />
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=== Release Feed ===<br />
Below the last 3 release feeds:<br />
<rss max=3>https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/releases.atom</rss><br />
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=== Activity Feed ===<br />
Below the last 5 commits:<br />
<rss max=5>https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/commits/main.atom</rss><br />
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== References ==<br />
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* [https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/blob/537297cdae3ab05f8d5dd1c03627a5bd73707b19/docs/how-linguist-works.md How Linguist Works] on GitHub.<br />
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== See also ==<br />
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* [https://coptr.digipres.org/Cloc CLOC] (Count Lines of Code) on COPTR.<br />
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{{Infobox tool details}}</div>Ross-spencer