Do all programmers code in English? – Let’s find out

The English language indeed seems to be the lingua Franca in programming.

However, you don’t have to learn the English language before you can code.

You will undoubtedly find more programming languages and codes written in English than in any other language, which can be traced to the fact that English seems to be the most universally accepted language.

As such, it can reach more people using the language.

Over the years, different programming languages have been developed by many countries (both English and non-English speaking countries), and even most non-English speaking countries have their programming language in English. 

One major reason why most programming languages use English keywords is so they can reach a wider audience but not all. 

Some examples of widely used Programming languages developed in non-English speaking countries but are in the English language includes: 

• PASCAL – Switzerland.
• PYTHON – Netherlands.
• PHP – Denmark.
• RUBY – Japan.

Unarguably, coding in English opens you up to various opportunities in the programming space, from working for prominent tech companies to collaborating on programming projects with other tech companies, among many others. 

However, you can write your programming language in your preferred language (that is if the programming language is available in your preferred language).

Although the keywords for all other languages are in English, the methods, variables, comments, and user-written classes can be in the programmer’s preferred language.

 Wikipedia states that from the history of programming language online database of languages, out of 8500+ programming languages recorded, about 2400 were developed in the United States, 600 in the United Kingdom, 160 in Canada, and 75 in Australia.

This means about one-third of the programming language we have, were developed by English-speaking countries, which excludes other non-English speaking countries that developed programming languages and used English so they can reach a large audience (Such as Lua, developed in Brazil, Ruby in Japan, Python in the Netherlands).

So, there are other non-English programming languages that programmers can code in, Examples of some of these includes.

• SETANTA is a programming language in Irish.
• BHARAT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE is a programming language in Hindi and it allows programmers to code in Hindi and use keywords in Hindi.
• KALAAM PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE is a programming language with all the essential functionality of modern programming languages in Hindi.
• QALB is a programming language used to code in Arabic.
• Easy Programming language is a virtual programming language in Chinese.
• OM Lang is a multilingual Programming language that supports over 9 Indian languages.
• Tineo: A Japanese programming language succeeded by produire FreeWave.
• There are several other Programming languages that allow programmers to code in languages other than English. 

Do Chinese code in English? 

Yes, but not all Chinese programmers code in English.

Some Chinese programmers are not estranged from English, so they can choose to either code in English or Chinese depending on their target audience or their skills.

Generally, the code is in English and has keywords written in English, although you can write your comments in Chinese.

The commonly used Programming language include JavaScript, Objective -C, C#, and Python, written in English with Mandarin or Cantonese in comments.

There are several Chinese Programming languages Chinese can code in instead of English, including Easy Programming language (EPL), Chinese BASIC, ChinesePhython (ZhPy), Wenyan, e.t.c.

The EPL is the most commonly used Programming language with Chinese functions and keywords and is often used by malware creators.

Also, ZhPy has python translated into Chinese, which allows a programmer to develop a complete program in Chinese with all variables and functions written in Chinese.

Do Japanese code in English?

Yes, the majority of codes in Japan are written in English syntax, and programmers use Japanese katakana in comments, although not all Japanese programmers code in the English language.

The most commonly used Programming language in Japanese includes; Java, JavaScript, PHP, C#, e.t.c.

It is believed that many people with Japanese as their primary language can easily understand Programming.

But Japanese also code using non-English programming languages.

An example of a Programming language that uses keywords based on and written in Japanese is Dolittle which was developed by Osaka Electro-communication university. Himawari is another Japanese programming language used to code.

Do foreign programmers code in English?

Yes, but not all. You can code in other non-English Programming languages.

However, foreign programmers ought to have some basic knowledge of the English language; although this is not mandatory, it is necessary.

Languages and naming API are essential components, and documents are often in English. 

Over one-third of the programming languages are developed in countries whose native language is English, and most of the prominent tech companies emanate from that region of the world.

Although it is not mandatory to have a good chance of harnessing opportunities, especially in the global world, a basic understanding of English is important.

The codebases for the most Programming language, API, and libraries are written with variables, names, characters, and comments in the English language which is why if any programmer would consider having to know another language aside from his or her native language, with globalization in view and the tech industry generally, the language to consider should be English.

Conclusion 

Most Programming languages are documented in English, which is the predominant language among programmers in many regions of the world.

Every good programmer should have the basic knowledge to read good codes in the English language. 

However, we have thousands of Programming languages and not all programmers code in English; other programmers use non-English Programming languages.

We have Programming languages in Portuguese, Latin, Hindi, Japanese, German, e.t.c. 

Support Website Hurdles

Website Hurdles is readers supported.

If you find this content helpful, you can support me by buying me a cup of coffee.

Till we meet again on another article,

Happy Coding!