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Discussion on: What's software development like as a non-native English speaker?

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Thorsten Hirsch • Edited

Most technical terms are not translated into other languages, we just use the english terms, e.g.:

  • variable
  • string
  • array
  • hash
  • tree
  • stack
  • queue

So as long as everybody understands that english is the universal language for developers (and maybe also administrators) everything's fine.

But companies like IBM translate all their software under the banner of "accessibility" into all languages. Your IDE, domain specific terms, even the error messages. This is such a bullshit! They think they lower the barrier for new developers, because they would easier understand things in their native language, but the opposite is true! Technical terms get lost, nobody understands what "Warteschlangen" (German) means, when talking about queues.

IMHO having english as your "technology language" (not only programming language, but also comments, commit messages, pull-requests, ...) and a different native language for everything else might actually make your life as a developer easier.