Earlier quoted context omitted.
syntax error
python --lang=german main.py shivers
Scala has a german version: https://www.scala-lang.org/blog/2017/04/01/announcing-skala....
Release date is 1st of april though
قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
551–560 of 657 posts
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#552Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it’s a good joke, in reality it does not compute. “Learning a new language” as in programming language, sits in the days-to-months range, while “learning a new language” as in Arabic takes months-to-years, so you’re building a much, much deeper chasm for others to cross and contribute, even though the source code remains English-based. You can already see this happening with some open source libraries coming fr…
Given that one in five person on the planet speaks Chinese as their first language, lack of “foreign” contribution will probably work out okay for them. Global contribution is nice but certainly not necessary. Whoever started the communities have the right to set the rules, using Chinese for (primary) documentation and discussion being one of them. If you don’t like it you can start your own.
Pure numbers mean nothing. Neither a farmer with no internet nor an urban Chinese citizen with a mobile internet but no actual computer is liable to contribute much.
There are 800 million Chinese internet users almost all are mobile only. Those that work as professional developers are expected to work insane hours that are unlikely to leave much time for public works after 9 to 9 6 days a week.
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#553Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be frank, "/s" would have totally ruined it for everyone else. I'm assuming that you simply didn't read past the first paragraph? (That's fine, I bet we all do that way too often here) I mean, I have a hard time believing that you really can't tell that a post that states that everybody uses FORTRAN isn't serious. I care because HN has a way of ruining satire and sarcasm this way. These are only the delightful sty…
I'm sad to admit I downvoted after the first paragraph. I was glad HN let me undo that after I read the second :) (also, hey skrebbel! :)
small world!
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#554Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it’s a good joke, in reality it does not compute. “Learning a new language” as in programming language, sits in the days-to-months range, while “learning a new language” as in Arabic takes months-to-years, so you’re building a much, much deeper chasm for others to cross and contribute, even though the source code remains English-based. You can already see this happening with some open source libraries coming fr…
For centuries in the sciences, it was essential to know more than one language in order to be able to keep up with developments worldwide. As recently as our parents' generation, it was a graduation requirement for doctorates. That English has become the lingua franca [1] of the world is a recent development. If we would like people to read our documentation, it is reasonable to expect that we should do our best to l…
There are 6000 languages. Even the top 5 would take a decade of your life. It would make more sense to have a miniscule fraction of people make machine translation better.
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#555Earlier quoted context omitted.
syntax error
Excel and other spreadsheet software products localize their function names. So people learn to use those in their native language which is great. But if they need to use the same software with a different language setting, because they move or work abroad, they have to relearn all those function names, which sucks...
> Excel and other spreadsheet software products localize their function names.
And, most annoyingly, their thousands and decimal separators. That has tripped me up countless times.
100,991 vs 100.991.
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#556Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it’s a good joke, in reality it does not compute. “Learning a new language” as in programming language, sits in the days-to-months range, while “learning a new language” as in Arabic takes months-to-years, so you’re building a much, much deeper chasm for others to cross and contribute, even though the source code remains English-based. You can already see this happening with some open source libraries coming fr…
Think about all the bad variable and function names from your ESL coworkers. This stuff matters to me enough that I know I would hate being on a project knowing I'm That Guy. It does bring to mind that Mathematics isn't really done in 'english', it's a pidgin of latin and arabic symbols (and like most or all pidgins, has some whole-cloth inventions). Instead of making most people learn a new language, should everyone…
> The problem is that the only programming language I know of that tried to be its own language-language was APL and thoughts of coding in that give me nightmares.
Have you ever actually tried learning APL, or are you just trolling?
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#557The negative reactions here claiming that everyone should use English are really disappointing, on hacker news of all places. Nobody is saying we need to rewrite the Linux kernel in Arabic. But a language such as this could be a great tool to introduce programming to people who would otherwise be turned away by the language barrier. What is important is not the keywords for, if else, etc but the concepts of logic and…
I'm wondering how many people would be outright afraid of installing and running a program in a language that they have no chance of reading. This is the rough equivalent that all non-programmers have to deal with everyday.
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#558Earlier 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.
...hot damn does it really bug me that HN has such a hard time with snark.
Yeah, I've noticed that when I get sarcastic or snarky, it's very often an invitation to being downvoted. I can't tell if it's because people don't get the sarcasm or snarkiness, get it but are offended that I'm using it at all (especially without an "/s"), or are offended that I'm being snarky about [insert sacred technolibertarian cow here]. :)
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#559Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is an obvious difference; English is still the lingua franca. If you're dealing with anything international, you use it because everyone has a decent shot of knowing it; assuming most oss isn't confined to a single nation, english is still the best choice. Plus, for this reason, other nations are usually much better than America about teaching a foreign language.
Sure, if you want to start an international project, then English is a pretty good language to use. However, I have heard people say that all software everywhere should be written in English, including things like personal projects and internal tools for companies in non-anglophone countries. I think that's kind of ridiculous.
No customer ever objected to my code with English variable / method / function names. Some don't care, others explicitly ask for English because maybe "one day we want to sell the company to somebody outside the country".
Re: قلب: a non-ASCII programming language written in Arabic
#560Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Something about non-English comments in source code is really off-putting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_cringe
I am sorry, what? I do not dismiss my own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. Not at all.
Clearly you dismiss other cultures as inferior to your own, though.