Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why knowing English is important for every software developer

volgarev.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–67 of 67 posts

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#61

Post by riffraff »

rurounijones wrote: post #52
bdcravens wrote: post #31

Ignorant American here, asking of the non-native English speakers: As most (every?) programming language is "in English", does this impair understanding? (for, in, throw, select, from - all English words whose meanings are more or less in line with the programming concept they define) (Even Ruby, created by a Japanese, is "English") For those who write/type in languages that require Unicode: since you typically code…

Ruby 1.9 and 2.0 supports Unicode variables (1.9 requires a special line at the top of the file). Outside of some cute usage of the Pi symbol (because he could) I haven't seen it used in the wild. Most Japanese programmers I know / whose code I have seen just use the romaji text for their variables names if they are still thinking in Japanese. (i.e. "tesuto" instead of "test" or "yuza_banngo" for "user_id")

I remember ruby code circa 2001, there was a lot of it with kanji in in comments, which I found fascinating :)

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#62

Post by jballanc »

loxs wrote: post #58
jballanc wrote: post #32

I've often said that English is to programming as Latin is to medicine. Programmers will be writing "if" statements and "for" loops long after no one uses "if" or "for" in daily conversation. So it is as important for programmers to understand English as it is for doctors to understand Latin. Of course, most doctors may understand Latin, but they wouldn't be able to converse in Latin. In that sense, English is also t…

Actually English has completely replaced Latin in medical circles as the Ligua Franca. Even the terminology (still based on Latin though) is English.

English is the Lingua Franca, but the terminology is (last I checked) still heavily Latin. Anterior this, Rostral that...a this-ectomy or a that-otomy...even "heart attack" is properly a Cardiac Infarct, from the Latin "infarctus": stuffed into.

I realize that the days of requiring Latin as part of a medical education are behind us (though not that far behind us), but Latin's footprints are all over the practice of medicine. I think the reason this isn't more obvious is that, in medicine, "Latin" is mostly interchangeable with "jargon" or "terminology" -- it's just "something you learn".

Someone else asked about a programming language like Ruby, which was developed in Japan and whose early users were all Japanese, why does it still use "def", "if", "for", etc. As an English speaker one is tempted to ask, "Why do the Japanese use English", but I would wager that the Japanese would respond, "What English? This is just programming terminology."

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#63

Post by ivanhoe »

jballanc wrote: post #32

I've often said that English is to programming as Latin is to medicine. Programmers will be writing "if" statements and "for" loops long after no one uses "if" or "for" in daily conversation. So it is as important for programmers to understand English as it is for doctors to understand Latin. Of course, most doctors may understand Latin, but they wouldn't be able to converse in Latin. In that sense, English is also t…

English is now what Latin used to be in times of Newton or Leibniz. All scientific works back then were written in Latin. Today English plays that role...

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#64

Post by sireat »

kiba wrote: post #6

Right now, I am trying to fix my spelling and grammar. I do this through feedback with the people who I am chating with on IRC. I am also building SRS(Spaced repetition systems) decks cataloging grammar mistakes I made, formal grammar rules, as well all the spelling mistakes I made. Right now, I have 25 cards for spelling, and 55 for grammar. The process of noticing my mistakes, being corrected, and learning about er…

"I do this through feedback with the people who I am chating with on IRC" would sound better as: "I do this through feedback with the people whom I am chatting with on IRC"

Alternatively you could just omit the whom altogether but I am less certain about that as I am not a native speaker either.

If you want to know more about who vs whom: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/who-versu...

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#65

Post by tribaal »

saraid216 wrote: post #41
neebz wrote: post #16

I cannot tell you how much I agree with this. When someone in US says good communication skills are important, they think it's racist. I am from Pakistan. When I tell colleagues to master English, they think I am still mentally under British imperialism. There is a huge trove of knowledge on the internet which you can only benefit from if you can read/write English. It was only after I focused on my English that I wa…

> I am from Pakistan. When I tell colleagues to master English, they think I am still mentally under British imperialism. They're not wrong. It's just that you're right. If they're bothered by the imperialism, then they should get to work translating.

Translating requires to master English in the first place (at least understanding), so I guess it's back to square one...

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#66

Post by gruseom »

lutusp wrote: post #54
vacri wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uncommon, sure, but still correct. Myself, I like "who'd've" and similar. Never seen in written English, but quite common in spoken English. Who'd've thought you could put two apostrophes in the one contraction? :)

> Who'd've thought you could put two apostrophes in the one contraction? Yes, and perhaps more interestingly, what will it look like 500 years from now? Many common modern words that we assume to be self-contained turn out to be pastiches of two or more older words. Like "shire reeve" -> sheriff.

"shire reeve" -> sheriff

Well I'll be. That is so cool. Thanks!

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sheriff&allowed_in_...

Edit: Allow me to repay in kind. Did you know that rhubarb is called "rhubarb" because the Greeks thought only barbarians would eat it?

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=rhubarb&allowed_in_...

Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer

#67

Post by loxs »

jballanc wrote: post #62
loxs wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually English has completely replaced Latin in medical circles as the Ligua Franca. Even the terminology (still based on Latin though) is English.

English is the Lingua Franca, but the terminology is (last I checked) still heavily Latin. Anterior this, Rostral that...a this-ectomy or a that-otomy...even "heart attack" is properly a Cardiac Infarct, from the Latin "infarctus": stuffed into. I realize that the days of requiring Latin as part of a medical education are behind us (though not that far behind us), but Latin's footprints are all over the practice of m…

Yeah, but most of the time, Anglicized forms of the Latin words are in use. Increasingly so, even in the non-English speaking world. Even in your example, the correct Latin form is "Infarctus Miocardii" and Cardiac Infarct is heavily Anglicized. And although we still learn the Latin terms in Bulgaria, I can't really see that lasting very long.
Post reply on HN