قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic • Hacker News Board

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#421

Post by gggmaster » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

pgeorgi wrote: post #269

cowsandmilk wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> having useful error messages from your compiler helps get stuff sorted out more quickly. The definition of useful varies though. Many people starting out don't have the ability to understand some error messages, so being able to search for the error message is most useful. If everyone in the world has the same error message, finding an explanation for the error is a lot easier.

> finding an explanation for the error is a lot easier. Two options: 1. LC_ALL=C $command to get the universal version of the error to search/report 2. Add a numerical error code that remains stable across locales

LC_ALL=C changes all the locale-related behaviors. I would try LC_MESSAGES first.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#422

Post by nickpeterson » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

cyborgx7 wrote: post #167

pgcj_poster wrote: post #135

This is at best useless, and at worst harmful. If we start using languages other than English for code, then we'll end up balkanizing the software world. People in humanities departments can talk about things like "Chinese Poetry" and "Continental Philosophy," but in STEM, we should be above that nonsense. I should be able to read code written anywhere in the world and understand what it does. This is the same reason…

So glad this turned out to be a joke in the second paragraf. The first is very believable. I've definitely encountered people who would write something like it unironically.

I once worked with a person in an ecommerce department who was annoyed that a German website used German instead of English.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#423

Post by guggle » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

fastball wrote: post #340

guggle wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's my point: everyone has to learn a bit of english, and that's good. It's good for everyone. It's a personal annoyance at first but with a bit of effort you turn it into a personal skill which then benefits to everyone. Community > Individual

I'm not sure how an arabic speaker having to learn english is better than you having to learn arabic.

It's not, but I don't get your point.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#424

Post by cptwunderlich » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

He is very right about how many tools and sites have problems with RTL (right-to-left) text. And don't get me started on mixing LTR and RTL text.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#425

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:40 PM UTC

pgcj_poster wrote: post #135

This is at best useless, and at worst harmful. If we start using languages other than English for code, then we'll end up balkanizing the software world. People in humanities departments can talk about things like "Chinese Poetry" and "Continental Philosophy," but in STEM, we should be above that nonsense. I should be able to read code written anywhere in the world and understand what it does. This is the same reason…

[deleted]

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#426

Post by wostusername » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:41 PM UTC

pgcj_poster wrote: post #329

fxj wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is valid python3, try it out. 數字 = 23 運行 = True 假 = False 整數=int 輸入=input 印出=print while 運行: 猜測 = 整數(輸入('輸入一個數字: ')) if 猜測 == 數字: 印出('恭喜, 你猜對了.') 運行 = 假 # 這會讓循環語句結束 elif 猜測 See: http://reganmian.net/blog/2008/11/21/chinese-python-translat...

I don't know any Lisp, but I wonder about doing something like this in one, since if I understand correctly, even things like conditionals are functions. I'm sure it would be possible with macros, but I wonder if you make a Chinese Lisp just by redefining functions.

Conditionals are not functions in Lisp. They are 'special forms' since they have to control the evaluation of their arguments and functions always evaluate all their arguments.

So, if you want to translate a lisp into another language you have to resort to macros.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#427

Post by TallGuyShort » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:41 PM UTC

schwartzworld wrote: post #389

johnisgood wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something about non-English comments in source code is really off-putting. That, and if you generally do want people to understand, then you should use English. If that does not matter to you, or someone else, then do not.

> That, and if you generally do want people to understand, then you should use English What if the people you want to understand aren't English speakers?

I grew up in a home that spoke another language. I'm glad there was on obvious lingua franca to learn that's allowed me to work with people all across non-English countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and India, and will probably continue to serve me well.

I'm not opposed to people developing tools in their native languages, but let's not pretend like projects that use this language aren't going to be completely isolated from most of the rest of the world.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#428

Post by shantly » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:42 PM UTC

journalctl wrote: post #419

shrimp_emoji wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Autism and humor are two irreconcilable elements; attempts to bridge them fare as well as for matter and antimatter.

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that there’s a higher incidence of autism on HN than elsewhere (bad social skills can also occur in neurotypical people), but hot damn does it really bug me that HN has such a hard time with snark.

It's not just snark—try dropping a colloquial "all" or "none" in a context where that's clearly what it is, and watch ten people rush to correct you that "well, technically..."

Or even carefully qualified statements! I think folks here drop "most" and "typically" and similar words as they read. You have to write poorly, qualifying everything three times and disavowing a bunch of stuff you obviously aren't saying or even implying anyway, to make sure you don't get a bunch of pointless comments.

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#429

Post by chme » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:44 PM UTC

rusk wrote: post #398

mattigames wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

python --lang=german main.py shivers

Haut.py

More like 'Haupt.py'. ('Haut' is 'skin') But in German that alone would translate back to 'head.py', so you might want to give some more context to it like 'Hauptdatei.py' ('main file.py').

Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic

#430

Post by gre » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 2:44 PM UTC

cyborgx7 wrote: post #167

pgcj_poster wrote: post #135

This is at best useless, and at worst harmful. If we start using languages other than English for code, then we'll end up balkanizing the software world. People in humanities departments can talk about things like "Chinese Poetry" and "Continental Philosophy," but in STEM, we should be above that nonsense. I should be able to read code written anywhere in the world and understand what it does. This is the same reason…

So glad this turned out to be a joke in the second paragraf. The first is very believable. I've definitely encountered people who would write something like it unironically.

Wow I stopped reading after the first paragraph and almost missed the joke. I have other things to do...