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Cannot agree on error messages, had opposite experience with them. I always require all team members to install English versions of runtimes because it is easy

Cannot agree on error messages, had opposite experience with them. I always require all team members to install English versions of runtimes because it is easy to search non-trivial errors on the internet. Many translations are automatic or done by not very technical people and they sound weird in local language, e.g. many terms in Russian, even such simple as "heap allocation", are really weird. An English error that you see for the first time is usually solved via quick search with the first result usually linking to StackOverflow with the correct fix, but with the local language it's often difficult to understand where to start. (But basic English knowledge is assumed)

ginko 7y ago
I guess this is where error codes come in handy.
- buybackoff 7y ago
  Not actually unless it's a native OS exception with a well-defined hex code. I was talking in .NET context, and when you get e.g. some SocketException related to setting up UDP multicast parameters only textual description helps for highly relevant search with double quotes. Often there are just no results at all in local language for highly specific complex conditions.
codeulike 7y ago
Maybe error messages should just point to pre-prepared StackOverflow questions* (* which would probably get closed by s.o. mods)
Iv 7y ago
> But basic English knowledge is assumed Let's be clear: it is my opinion that today, basic english is a pre-requisite to any programmer. What I am saying is that people making "native" programming language seem to want to change that and that they are misguided if they think the language is the crucial part. The crucial part are the error messages, which indeed are often very poorly translated. Yes, heap/stack would look weird in french as well, but as weird as they look in english the first time you encounter them. However if you translate the error message correctly, a novice programmer will understand that it is a memory problem and may try to hunt the error more efficiently.
- bromuro 7y ago
  I learnt my basic English while programming. Definitely not a prerequisite !

ginko 7y ago

I guess this is where error codes come in handy.

buybackoff 7y ago
Not actually unless it's a native OS exception with a well-defined hex code. I was talking in .NET context, and when you get e.g. some SocketException related to setting up UDP multicast parameters only textual description helps for highly relevant search with double quotes. Often there are just no results at all in local language for highly specific complex conditions.

codeulike 7y ago

Maybe error messages should just point to pre-prepared StackOverflow questions* (* which would probably get closed by s.o. mods)

Iv 7y ago

> But basic English knowledge is assumed Let's be clear: it is my opinion that today, basic english is a pre-requisite to any programmer. What I am saying is that people making "native" programming language seem to want to change that and that they are misguided if they think the language is the crucial part. The crucial part are the error messages, which indeed are often very poorly translated. Yes, heap/stack would look weird in french as well, but as weird as they look in english the first time you encounter them. However if you translate the error message correctly, a novice programmer will understand that it is a memory problem and may try to hunt the error more efficiently.

bromuro 7y ago
I learnt my basic English while programming. Definitely not a prerequisite !