do you code in english?

[Ciccioo]

as the title says, what human language do you use when it comes to giving names to things in your code? do you use english or your native language?

how does it work in software houses? what's the standard?

 

i'm getting used to do everything in english, but it's not a solid rule that i gave myself so some of my codes may happen to be a bit polyglot (read messy)

 

you native english speakers out there can't understand :rolleyes:

[Bsmith]

ehhmm, yeah i do it in english, since the basics are in english it is easier to continue in english then switching between my native(dutch) language and english.

[alpenwasser]

Yup, I use exclusively English in my own projects, anything
else just seems unnatural to me TBH.

I'm sure once I get a job I'll need to get used to different
things unfortunately (dear lord, just the thought of German
variable names and comments in program code makes my

neck hairs stand up; not because I hate the German language,

but it's just not right somehow, it seems unprofessional to me).

But whenever given a choice, English it is for me.

[Ciccioo]

-snip-

-snip-

so you don't write any halloWelt() when you first learn a language thanks google translator

 

now i wonder if it's german that just doesn't fit, or it is a common feeling

now with that said, i feel like english is more natural as well, but there are some times in which italian doesn't sound bad either, so i use it without it feeling awkward

[Deprecated]

Development API'd are usually in english so english is the way to go.

When working in a software development company where there are many different native languages

(multiple Indian languages, Russian and other eastern european languages, and multiple Oriental languages are the main ones besides english that I've seen in the US),

using english is best because everyone should be able to read and maintain the code

[alpenwasser]

so you don't write any halloWelt() when you first learn a language thanks google translator

 

now i wonder if it's german that just doesn't fit, or it is a common feeling

now with that said, i feel like english is more natural as well, but there are some times in which italian doesn't sound bad either, so i use it without it feeling awkward

It probably depends on where and when you code first. If you

start coding in school, depending on what kind of school it is,

you might end up doing it in German or English. I always do

it in English. If you start out yourself, it'll likely depend

on how good you are at English, and therefore whether or not

you're using an English tutorial or a German one.

It's hard for me to say if it's just German or not. In the end,

whether or not something looks weird is a very personal thing

after all. My Italian is a bit too rusty to be able to judge

this, my French a bit less so. Thinking of it, I'd probably say

that encountering French variable names and comments would look

odd as well to me, but native French speakers might have a

different outlook on that.

But @Deprecated has reminded me of something which is a bit

more solid of an argument than just personal tastes and preferences:

While German and Italian are not really too greatly affected

by this since they both use mostly standard Latin characters

with few exceptions, other languages are much more different

from English than these two, so different sets of issues might

arise.

Take Arabic for example, or other languages which use right-to-

left writing. Needing to incorporate that into code seems like

a rather tricky propostition to me.

And yes, as soon as you have a bit of internationality in your

code with people from multiple language backgrounds working on

it, I'd say fixing the standard to English makes a lot of sense

since any halfway competent coder should understand it reasonably

well.

[Bsmith]

-snip-

Take Arabic for example, or other languages which use right-to-

left writing. Needing to incorporate that into code seems like

a rather tricky propostition to me.

And yes, as soon as you have a bit of internationality in your

code with people from multiple language backgrounds working on

it, I'd say fixing the standard to English makes a lot of sense

since any halfway competent coder should understand it reasonably

well.

 

-snip-

 

even within language barriers the program codes are done in english, this because all the coding rograms that exist internationally are based on the english language with left to right writing, believe it or not but even in countries where they write form top to bottom(some asian countries) english, with left to right alignment is a must if you want to become a programmer.

They might have the software translated into their native language but the coding stays the same(english) since english is the base language for the code, it is also pretty logical for the software(like dreamweaver) because you dont need to change the languagical(made up word ftw) inside your head, wich would slowdown your working pace, less efficient and you would end up with quite a big brain pain if you do this alot(once had 3 coding "sessions" on 1 day, with dutch talking and typing through it, worse then a hangover)

 

but getting offtopic

 

back to topic, how about a little poll? easier overview.

[Ciccioo]

back to topic, how about a little poll? easier overview.

i didn't make a poll because i thought there could be many different answer types, depending on the environment people develop in, so i preferred to read open answers

i'll try to make a poll, tell me if you have better options to put in

 

anyway, i'm waiting to see how it works in small/medium software houses, in which there are only people from that country (e.g. does a team of 15 french programmers working in a france business for french customers code in english?)

[epicfinley]

The only reason to code in another language is if some specifically asks for it in my opinion

[Ciccioo]

Only reason to code in different language is if the client specifaccly needs it in a certain language. English is more well-understood by all coders, and is in my experience less prone to problems. However, my main language is english, but i speak french, spanish and dutch

i'm also talking about the code that one could do just for himself

like, you write a short piece of code to speed up something you have to do, and you are the only one who will ever see the code

you will pick english i guess, but i will pick italian especially if it's a very short and simple program

[alpenwasser]

even within language barriers the program codes are done in english, this because all the coding rograms that exist internationally are based on the english language with left to right writing, believe it or not but even in countries where they write form top to bottom(some asian countries) english, with left to right alignment is a must if you want to become a programmer.

Yup, I would have estimated as much. Anything else just doesn't

really seem practical.

 

They might have the software translated into their native language but the coding stays the same(english) since english is the base language for the code, it is also pretty logical for the software(like dreamweaver) because you dont need to change the languagical(made up word ftw) inside your head, wich would slowdown your working pace, less efficient and you would end up with quite a big brain pain if you do this alot(once had 3 coding "sessions" on 1 day, with dutch talking and typing through it, worse then a hangover)

 

Yes of course, localizing a software package and the language

of the code itself are two completely different matters.

 

anyway, i'm waiting to see how it works in small/medium software houses, in which there are only people from that country (e.g. does a team of 15 french programmers working in a france business for french customers code in english?)

From what I've seen when doing internships and such, it depends

a bit on the company and the people who started it and such.

For example, if you take a rather older company whose code base

was originally started by people who didn't know English all

that well (young people tend on average to have better English

education than older ones around here), you might have predominantly

German variable names and comments. I haven't seen this personally,

but a good buddy of mine worked for such a company in the arms

industry.

On the other hand, it used to be that documentation and instructions

for some stuff was not available in German, so only people with

good English skills could acquire these skills in the first place,

which would again skew the codebase language towards English.

This I've been told by my neighbour who used to work in semiconductor

testing, controller programming and so on (EDIT:He's a

pensioneer, so he goes way back in this industry, hardcore assembly

and stuff/EDIT).

Then there is of course also the matter of national pride and such,

which might make some people prefer their native tongue over English.

And some of us Swiss are a bit boneheaded when it comes to that I

must admit. :rolleyes:

Most younger programmers I've met, when given a choice, will tend

to use English though.

[Darkstar101]

yes, always.

[LukeTim]

I am English... should I have voted? I may have skewed your results, sorry. >_>

[Ciccioo]

I am English... should I have voted? I may have skewed your results, sorry. >_>

i'm not too good with math, but i'm pretty sure that without your vote option 2 would be 'winning' right now

so i'll just factor that in and conclude that my habit of sometimes coding in italian is great B)

[Speedbird]

I code in English, because some coding terms just don't exist in my native language (Estonian).

[Builder]

English is considered the universal language for coding and hacking. Even people that don't speak English will often learn it for the purpose of coding, or at least the few words they need to know.

 

Comments are a different story. I recommend using English as well, though if you don't think you're going to need any help and it's just a personal project, you can do them in the language of your choice.

 

I feel like making a language that ran off Lojban would be really cool. It could also serve to enforce the grammar rules.

[Darko_Nerivar]

Only English, whether it is personal project or not.

There was this moment at work when we saw Korean comments. We wanted to write our comments in Ukrainian as a punishment :angry:

[alpenwasser]

There was this moment at work when we saw Korean comments. We wanted to write our comments in Ukrainian as a punishment :angry:

Lol, I could see this leading to some rather hilarious

internal wars at international companies (well, hilarious

being a matter of perspective).

[Darko_Nerivar]

Lol, I could see this leading to some rather hilarious

internal wars at international companies (well, hilarious

being a matter of perspective).

 

Well, I think everyone gets enraged when code style states "use only English" and the people who made that guide just don't give a crap about it.

So the HQ just makes themselves a pain in the arse.

[alpenwasser]

Well, I think everyone gets enraged when code style states "use only English" and the people who made that guide just don't give a crap about it.

So the HQ just makes themselves a pain in the arse.

Oh yes, I totally understand, especially if it's actually

the guys who made the guidelines not following them, it

just gave me a good chuckle, imagining a few teams of

programmers with different languages all making their

comments in their own language and causing total mayhem

for the company. Of course, if you're actually involved,

it starts to be a bit less fun.