[Python-3000] Support for PEP 3131 (original) (raw)

Anders J. Munch 2007 at jmunch.dk
Sun May 13 21:10:09 CEST 2007

Collin Winter wrote:

So far, all I've seen from PEP 3131's supporters is a lot of hollow assertions and idle theorizing: "Python will be easier to use for people using non-ASCII character sets", "Python will be easier to learn for those raised with non-Roman-influenced languages", etc, etc. Until I see some kind of evidence, something to back up these claims, I'm going to assume you're wrong.

You haven't brought any hard evidence to the table yourself, so in the absense of that, my anecdotal evidence trumps your pure speculation ;-)

I've coded non-trivial stuff in three languages: Danglish, English and Danish. Well, strictly speaking only the latter two are real langauages; Danglish is just a name for way Danish programmers typically write: A hodge-podge of Danish and English mixed with no apparent system, ever preferring whichever word springs to mind first, switching to (bad) English whenever the Danish alternative would need transliteration. Or worse, switching to a different but less appropriate Danish word that has the sole advantage of not needing transliteration.

I've found that using my native Danish is the better option of the three because, unsurprisingly, I am are more productive using my native language than a foreign language. Do I really need to submit proof for that? Isn't that just obvious?

See, that's the thing I have yet to see addressed: there's been lot of stress on "being able to write variable/class/method names in Arabic/Mandarin/Hindi will make it easier for native speakers to understand", but as far as I know, no-one has yet addressed how these non-English identifiers will mesh with the existing English keywords and English standard library functions.

They mesh brilliantly. The different languages used means that the provenance of identifiers is intuitively available: English identifiers means std. lib. or 3rd party, native language means in-house. Very helpful - my heart goes out to the poor suffering monolinguists who must do without this valuable code reading aid.

+1 on PEP 3131.

greetings-from-rainy-Denmark-ly y'rs, Anders

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