From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: weis Received: (from weis@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id UAA32738 for caml-redistribution; Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:46:35 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from nez-perce.inria.fr (nez-perce.inria.fr [192.93.2.78]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id NAA25014 for ; Sat, 23 Oct 1999 13:59:12 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from enst.enst.fr (enst.enst.fr [137.194.2.16]) by nez-perce.inria.fr (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id NAA23329 for ; Sat, 23 Oct 1999 13:59:11 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from email.enst.fr (muse.enst.fr [137.194.2.33]) by enst.enst.fr (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with ESMTP id NAA11039 for ; Sat, 23 Oct 1999 13:59:10 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from young.enst.fr (young.enst.fr [137.194.34.13]) by email.enst.fr (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA22108 for ; Sat, 23 Oct 1999 11:53:25 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from localhost (debourse@localhost) by young.enst.fr (8.8.8+Sun/8.8.8) with SMTP id LAA11371 for ; Sat, 23 Oct 1999 11:53:25 +0200 (MET DST) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 11:53:25 +0200 (MET DST) From: Benoit Deboursetty To: caml-list@inria.fr Subject: Re: localization, internationalization and Caml In-Reply-To: <380F4105.E1DDD31E@maxtal.com.au> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Sender: weis This message just wants to raise a paradoxical point in this discussion [yet it may have already been posted ?]. It seems to me that allowing foreign characters to be used in a computer language, as identifiers or comments, would reduce the exchange of contributions worldwide. Here is my personal experience: i have used caml and ocaml for more than 2 years now. From the beginning, it seemed to me really cool to be able to have identifiers in French, with accents and everything. So i took the habit of using French in my programs. Now, i'm writing a more consequent program, which could become a small intl "open project". *Except* that i find myself with a program in French, and that it's not so easy to find qualified programming partners who understand French. The range of people who could help with my program is terribly limited. You should understand i sometimes feel i should have written it in english. I must however acknowledge that [o']caml 's ability to cope with latin1 characters is above all useful for educational purpose. Let me explain... Perhaps is it a French thing, but in this country it sounds quite snobbish for a French to embed English words in a sentence with the right accent + stress. Hence, almost every computer science teacher takes an exaggerated French accent to pronounce English words ("la fonction 'rimouve'"). [I shall not disclose the names of my teachers in CaML :) ] So, for educational purposes, it is much better if the teachers can have French identifiers ("la fonction 'enlève'"). Much easier to pronounce, isn't it? I suppose it is the same for many other countries. (i think especially of japan "biko-zu ingurisshu izu ha-do tsu puronaonsu foa japani-zu pi-poru tsu-") My point remains: encouraging people to write code in their language would reduce the possiblities of exchanging their work. This does not mean, though, that i will translate the program i've written into english. I consider it is a sort of tribute to the preservation of the diversity of languages, at my most humblest scale... and i will write enough programs in English when i work for a company, too. Beno=EEt de Boursetty Benoit.de-Boursetty@polytechnique.org