I'm not sure I understand what the article is advocating as an alternative....
On Programming Languages
21–30 of 34 posts
Re: On Programming Languages
#22The argument comparing to gay/woman is just a fallacy. you can learn english, everyone can. You cannot stop being a woman or being gay (despite the latter being argued many times in the past).
And you should learn english. The problem is not because you have to. The problem is to communicate better and to share more. The exclusion principle will still apply, but instead excluding bigger group (people not speaking language X) instead of a smaller group (people not speaking english), unless we actually have completely-automatic translation (and then there is no issue). See what's going on in ruby community - you cannot participate in the design of the language, if you don't speak japanese. As simple as that.
Re: On Programming Languages
#23This is preposterous. There is no moral equivalence between requiring code to be submitted in a particular language and requiring racial segregation.
"All code must be submitted in English" is morally equivalent to "All code must be submitted in Python" - which is to say, there is no moral perspective whatsoever. Maybe it makes sense to have an all English (or all Python) codebase, maybe not, but these are logistical questions, not moral ones. They should be decided on the basis of utility.
Re: On Programming Languages
#24I'm surprised that nobody has pointed out the other sciences, in which English is clearly the dominant language. If you learn chemistry in any country around the world, you're going to be interacting with periodic tables using the Roman alphabet for elements, for example. At one point, Latin was the lingua franca [1], but those days are long past. French and Russian were used in the mathematics, but even there, mathe…
I'm surprised that nobody has pointed out the other sciences, in which English is clearly the dominant language.
And industries, such as aviation. All air traffic controllers are expected to be able to converse at a basic level (as necessary for ATC duties) in English even if pilots and ATC may sometimes choose to use other languages.
Re: On Programming Languages
#25Are there any programming languages/environments that allow localization of code? I mean where you can give multiple strings to each declared symbol, for multiple languages.
Yes, the Android development environment allows/encourages this: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/localiza... In principle, once an app is designed this way, the correct language is automatically selected based on locale.
I think he is talking about the localization of code itself (in the case of Android, the Java that the app is written in), not the localization of the user interface element, etc. that the user sees.
Imagine a programming language in which the keywords, for example, could change based on the user's language settings.
Re: On Programming Languages
#26Are there any programming languages/environments that allow localization of code? I mean where you can give multiple strings to each declared symbol, for multiple languages.
I actually a similar thought, the other day. (I have worked a lot on international programming teams). What if there were programming languages in which the language had keywords which could change depending on locale? Maybe variable names could be localized? And comments could be translatable so that the programmers would be able to see their native language inline?
In international teams, I wonder if this could aid developer productivity throughout the team?
Re: On Programming Languages
#27As others have already mentioned, comparing a choice of a common language for communication to discrimination issues is just completely baseless.
In total, picking a common language and sticking it makes it much easier for people to communicate. Sure, the native Spanish speaker will have more trouble with English than with Spanish, but what about the next guy, that happens to speak French and English and wants to read the Spanish guys comments?
Suddenly people don't have to learn English as a second language, but have to in fact learn all the languages that other people on the project like to use. Of course everybody will still have to learn English, but now you better also know some Mandarin, French, Spanish, or whatever somebody else felt like using. Latin anyone?
Re: On Programming Languages
#28The argument comparing to gay/woman is just a fallacy. you can learn english, everyone can. You cannot stop being a woman or being gay (despite the latter being argued many times in the past). And you should learn english. The problem is not because you have to. The problem is to communicate better and to share more. The exclusion principle will still apply, but instead excluding bigger group (people not speaking lan…
you can learn english, everyone can. You cannot stop being a woman or being gay
That argument doesn't persuade me. Let's say you could stop being a woman, perhaps by taking hormones and having an operation. Would it suddenly be ok to have a male-only company, since obviously people are choosing to remain women?
Your second paragraph is simply arguing something I already agree with, namely the utility of everyone using English.
Re: On Programming Languages
#29As others have already mentioned, comparing a choice of a common language for communication to discrimination issues is just completely baseless. In total, picking a common language and sticking it makes it much easier for people to communicate. Sure, the native Spanish speaker will have more trouble with English than with Spanish, but what about the next guy, that happens to speak French and English and wants to rea…
Simply saying an argument is baseless doesn't make it so.
The rest of your argument merely repeats what I already agree with, namely the utility of a lingua franca.
Re: On Programming Languages
#30This is preposterous. There is no moral equivalence between requiring code to be submitted in a particular language and requiring racial segregation. "All code must be submitted in English" is morally equivalent to "All code must be submitted in Python" - which is to say, there is no moral perspective whatsoever. Maybe it makes sense to have an all English (or all Python) codebase, maybe not, but these are logistical…
I don't think it's preposterous to note that there are people who don't speak English and wanting to include them, any more than it's preposterous to note that there are people who can't afford an education and wanting to find a way to get them one, or noting that there are people who don't like in the US but wanting to find a way to have them participate in programming.
There may not be a reasonable trade-off between utility and value, but preposterous isn't a word I accept for valuing the idea of being more inclusive.