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  3. It just struck me

It just struck me

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
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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

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        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

            J Offline
            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

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                  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

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                    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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                      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.

                        M Offline
                        M Offline
                        Munchies_Matt
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #29

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

                        S 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

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                          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

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                            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

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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.

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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)

                                    S 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

                                      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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                                      • 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.

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Member 10782385
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #37

                                        Imagine writing code and end almost all written lines with semicolons....

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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
                                          Kirk 10389821
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #38

                                          I have worked with Russian programmers for 20+ years... Fortunately in Computer Science, English is their second language! But, you are 100% right. We have a lot of Abbreviations, and weird ways of saying things. I tend to use kinda/sorta which aren't words, lol. So the team is told early on to ASK about ANYTHING they are not clear about, and that OUR RUSSIAN would be much worse than their English. Early on, a piece of code came back with a variable: Svertka in it... It came into a code review, and it was used in a lot of places. They put the definition in the code, and moved on. But it has led to many funny situations...

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