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From: rwex@IDA.ORG (Richard Wexelblat)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Question on programming languages
Message-ID: <1989Sep26.114433.515@IDA.ORG>
Date: 26 Sep 89 11:44:33 GMT
References: <8720001@hplsla.HP.COM> <89267.181118UH2@PSUVM.BITNET> <5219@eos.UUCP>
Reply-To: rwex@IDA.ORG.UUCP (Richard Wexelblat)
Organization: IDA, Alexandria, VA
Lines: 25

In article <5219@eos.UUCP> eugene@eos.UUCP (Eugene Miya) writes:
>I've seen lots of code in other natural languages.
>

In a very early SIGPLAN Notices there were some examples of Japanese
COBOL programs -- all of the keywords in English, all variables on
Romanji Japanese.

The first ALGOL compiler I used was implemented at the U. of Grenoble.
All "regular" keywords in English but all I/O statements in French (lire
& ecrire, etc.)

A long while ago there were some publications relating to the
impossibility of translating the LOGO programming language into a
romance language without seriously changing its structure.  (A basic
aspect of Logo is that the infinitive form of an English verb -- used to
define a function/procedure (TO DRAW, e.g.) -- is lexically identical
with the imperative form -- used to invoke the function (DRAW, e.g.).
Try doing that in French.)


-- 
--Dick Wexelblat  |I must create a System or be enslav'd by another Man's; |
  (rwex@ida.org)  |I will not Reason and Compare: my business is to Create.|
  703  824  5511  |   -Blake,  Jerusalem                                   |