Internationalized Programming

 PigeonTalk will be exploring the idea of graphical programming using drag and drop without translating from a text form using a compiler.  This idea gives us the ability to extend the idea of programming into areas never before available.

Suppose that the names we use in our programs (class names, variable names, strings to display, reserved words, etc.) aren't just Symbols or Strings but are Translatable objects which can store a "default" version but can also store versions of that name in other languages (English, French, Japanese, etc.) and even using the unicode characters for those languages.

In your development environment, then, you would choose which language you want to use and the code would appear in your language.  If a word doesn't have a translation for your language, you can add one.   We could (as a first attempt), use Google Translate to translate the names for us to give a first rough translation of a name.  This becomes even more feasible when we allow spaces in class and method names rather than depending on camelCase names.

Why should programming be English-specific? Let's let people who speak other languages program in their own language and allow programmers from one language be understandable by people in another language.  I'd like to see a wider world of sharing and cooperation in programming.