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  3. It just struck me

It just struck me

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  • realJSOPR realJSOP

    I didn't mean to imply that I was feeling empathy. In point of fact, I was going to add "It sucks to be a foreigner" to the original message, but I didn't feel like pushing buttons today. I can see now, that decision is coming back to bite me in my redneck ass. :)

    ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
    -----
    You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
    -----
    When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

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    R Offline
    RickZeeland
    wrote on last edited by
    #17

    That's more like it, you are back again :-\

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    • T Tim Carmichael

      The language knife cuts both ways. As a native English speaking, I have not experienced problems with coding due to language, however, when reviewing a vendor supplied database schema or data tree, the entities may be in a foreign language. For example, we were tasked with getting data from a vendor supplied database. The tables and columns were all in French, but the words largely had vowels removed - a method I've seen English speaking analysts use as well. Or, getting data from a DCS written by a Spanish firm; all of the items in the data tree are in shortened Spanish and no translation table was provided with both Spanish and English descriptions.

      R Offline
      R Offline
      RickZeeland
      wrote on last edited by
      #18

      That's nothing, long ago I had to deal with VB6 software in Japanese ! We usually referred to those characters as 'flattened mosquitoes' :-\

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      • C CodeWraith

        Eddy Vluggen wrote:

        it is the devs' responsibility to make sure that he understands the domain of the user

        Good to know. How far can I go to accomplish that? "Find out what he knows, and then take care of him!"

        Eddy Vluggen wrote:

        so the dev has to make those decisisons, and has to communicate that to the user in a way he/she can verify the idea

        Yes, based on what what we got out of him in the first place. I have a customer who has some problems overlooking the consequences of the things he demanded to get. What do you think would happen if I took the liberty to invent new names whereever I could?

        I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

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        Lost User
        wrote on last edited by
        #19

        CodeWraith wrote:

        What do you think would happen if I took the liberty to invent new names whereever I could?

        I'm not talking about inventing new names :)

        CodeWraith wrote:

        I have a customer who has some problems overlooking the consequences of the things he demanded to get.

        That's your job; you can't expect the user to be knowledgable about development; similar we can't be expected to know everything about the niche we work for. So, you're expected to explain those things in terms that the user understands. That's why I keep saying that development is more than simply writing code; a lot of problems in IT projects can be traced back to insufficient communication :)

        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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        • realJSOPR realJSOP

          It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

          ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
          -----
          You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
          -----
          When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

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          PIEBALDconsult
          wrote on last edited by
          #20

          One of the great things about C is that it uses symbols more than words. (If you can trust Bing translate...)

          /* German C dialect */

          define wenn if

          define während while

          define fort do

          define anderes else

          define brechen break

          define weiterhin continue

          define schalter switch

          define fall case

          /* etc. */

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          • realJSOPR realJSOP

            It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

            ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
            -----
            You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
            -----
            When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

            C Offline
            C Offline
            CPallini
            wrote on last edited by
            #21

            Nah, English is a piece of cake, compared with C++ intricacy.

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            • R RickZeeland

              That's nothing, long ago I had to deal with VB6 software in Japanese ! We usually referred to those characters as 'flattened mosquitoes' :-\

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              Brisingr Aerowing
              wrote on last edited by
              #22

              RickZeeland wrote:

              'flattened mosquitoes'

              Awesome. :laugh:

              What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question? The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism. Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???

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              • realJSOPR realJSOP

                It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                -----
                You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                -----
                When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

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                J Offline
                Jacquers
                wrote on last edited by
                #23

                I'm bilingual, but my first / home language is Afrikaans (close to Dutch). All my IT study material was in English, so when I work I think in English and it's probably the same for a lot of IT professionals. The computer terms in Afrikaans are quite funny.

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                • realJSOPR realJSOP

                  It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                  ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                  -----
                  You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                  -----
                  When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

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                  D Offline
                  den2k88
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #24

                  Especially when the non-english programmer used bad spelling and grammar naming methods. RecieveThing :~

                  GCS d-- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

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                  • P PIEBALDconsult

                    One of the great things about C is that it uses symbols more than words. (If you can trust Bing translate...)

                    /* German C dialect */

                    define wenn if

                    define während while

                    define fort do

                    define anderes else

                    define brechen break

                    define weiterhin continue

                    define schalter switch

                    define fall case

                    /* etc. */

                    J Offline
                    J Offline
                    Jochen Arndt
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #25

                    Argh! Reminds my of the times when there was localised Basic versions. Even VB.Net still supports some German keywords: Schlüsselwörter (Visual Basic) | Microsoft Docs[^]:

                    Fehler Error
                    Beenden Exit
                    Nächste Next
                    Objekt Object
                    Aktion Task

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                    • realJSOPR realJSOP

                      It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                      ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                      -----
                      You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                      -----
                      When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                      K Offline
                      K Offline
                      Kirill Illenseer
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #26

                      I live in Germany and am born in Russia, nowhere near English, but after a while, it becomes second nature (or third, in my case). The internet is English, the scientific and engineering communities use it and most video games are better in English that in German. After a couple years, English became so natural to me, that I even mix up German and English in my own code because I process both languages at the same level.

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                      • realJSOPR realJSOP

                        It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                        ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                        -----
                        You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                        -----
                        When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                        M Offline
                        M Offline
                        Munchies_Matt
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #27

                        John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                        It just struck me

                        Only just? Yes, IT is an English only discipline. And almost all IT jobs globally can be done speaking English. I have wondered whether two programmers, of different nationality, could communicate only using programming words. :)

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                        • K Kirill Illenseer

                          I live in Germany and am born in Russia, nowhere near English, but after a while, it becomes second nature (or third, in my case). The internet is English, the scientific and engineering communities use it and most video games are better in English that in German. After a couple years, English became so natural to me, that I even mix up German and English in my own code because I process both languages at the same level.

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                          M Offline
                          Munchies_Matt
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          English and Dutch mix well, so I imagine English and German do too (English being a Germanic language, it kind of works well anyway, and is quite amusing. Like 'fuckoffen', 'to go home'. :) ). But yeah, English has become the worlds language through the net and IT.

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                          • L Lost User

                            Imagine writing code in German, with umlauts all over the place :laugh:

                            Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                            M Offline
                            Munchies_Matt
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            Imagine how long the class names would be!!!!!

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                            • realJSOPR realJSOP

                              It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                              ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                              -----
                              You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                              -----
                              When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                              K Offline
                              K Offline
                              kalberts
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              In one project I worked on, we evaluated one open source library which had received quite favorable reviews: We would have to extend it, and all the comments and variable/function names were in French. None of the project members mastered French, so it was completely impossible to understand what the code was intended to accomplish. We had to reject it for another alternative that turned out to be not very well suited for our use. Even if you understand the "other" language: Switching your mind back and forth between two languages, English for the reserved/predefined words and another language for names and labels, strongly affects your speed of comprehension, in a very negative way. So I always insist on one single language: If keywords are in English, so are all names, labels etc. - and also: All comments, source file names etc. Furthermore: There should be no non-English string literals. Or phrased somewhat differently: Since the UI should be in the language of the end user, there should be no language dependent literals in the code at all! Not even English ones. Keep all strings out of the code, use string references so that the French strings can be replaced by German strings, Swedish strings, Latin strings etc. without affecting the code. (Actually, as early as in 1983 when I was working on an office automation system that strictly followed this rule, a university professor offered to translate all the UI strings to Latin. We never offered the Latin text files to the market though - we didn't have any sales office in the Vatican...) Any code module should be 100% language-agnostic, with respect to UI. Not to forget: "UI" is more than "text on the screen", it also includes e.g. database column names, which may be visible to the user through other tools.

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                              • realJSOPR realJSOP

                                It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                                ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                -----
                                You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                -----
                                When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                                B Offline
                                B Offline
                                BillWoodruff
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #31

                                The same thing happens in nudist colonies.

                                «... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12

                                1 Reply Last reply
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                                • realJSOPR realJSOP

                                  It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                                  ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                  -----
                                  You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                  -----
                                  When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                                  U Offline
                                  U Offline
                                  User 11453215
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #32

                                  Here's a Russian perspective: The language of programming[^]

                                  realJSOPR N 2 Replies Last reply
                                  0
                                  • U User 11453215

                                    Here's a Russian perspective: The language of programming[^]

                                    realJSOPR Offline
                                    realJSOPR Offline
                                    realJSOP
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #33

                                    I rarely 5 a lounge post. This is one of those that deserve it. Interesting article.

                                    ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                    -----
                                    You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                    -----
                                    When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                                    N 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • realJSOPR realJSOP

                                      It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                                      ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                      -----
                                      You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                      -----
                                      When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                                      P Offline
                                      P Offline
                                      PeejayAdams
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #34

                                      In 20th Century Britain we had a cunning policy of beating and ostracising children who insisted on using the Devil's tongue (Welsh). This was fairly successful in forcing many people to use God's Own Language (English). Sadly, over the years (Political Correctness and all that) this entirely reasonable practice was abandoned because it was somehow deemed to be a form of child cruelty. Let's face it, pretty well everybody in the galaxy and beyond speaks English (we know this from Star Trek and other sources) apart from a few billion Earthlings who insist on babbling away in some form of regional gibberish just to annoy the rest of us. It's high time, to my mind, that we not only revive our old policy but broaden, clarify and expand it to a more generalised global concept of "Speak English or Die." Not only would we be sparing Johnny Foreigner endless confusion when programming, we'd also save ourselves countless hours on localisation projects that only exist to cater for those who cannot be bothered to comply with a simple request to learn to speak properly. Sometimes you have to be a little cruel to be kind!

                                      98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • realJSOPR realJSOP

                                        It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                                        ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                        -----
                                        You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                        -----
                                        When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                                        S Offline
                                        S Offline
                                        Slow Eddie
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #35

                                        They don't call it a programming "language" for nothing! :laugh: And in my experience, most American programmers/developers don't speak English, use proper grammar, or know how to spell, either. And I are one!

                                        "Newer" is NOT automatically better, only Different. (And more complex and bug ridden when it comes to all of the "boutique" languages / frameworks out there)

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                                        • realJSOPR realJSOP

                                          It just struck me that it must be difficult to be a programmer in a non-English-speaking country because all of the classes and function names in a given framework are in English, so picking the correct class/method must be somewhat difficult.

                                          ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                          -----
                                          You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                          -----
                                          When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                                          G Offline
                                          G Offline
                                          gervacleto
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #36

                                          English is not my native language. (Spanish is my native), and I have been in the developer's area for more than 35 years. You are right, all the languages (at least all I know) are in English, and also the Frameworks (if they have these). I can read, write and speak English reasonably well and all my programs are written in Spanish:

                                          if(UsuarioAutorizado) // if(AutorizedUser)
                                          {
                                          AnalicePermisos(NombreUsuario, FechaAcceso); // CheckAccess(UserName, AccessDate);
                                          }

                                          We do not have any problems doing this. Usually Spanish is longer than English, but it does not represent a big difference. Of course, we developers must need to learn English (read at least) in order to write software.

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