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Why do most German companies always require "German speaking" developers? Do they use localized versions of programming languages like the old Microsoft VBA dialects?

use 'streng';
konst sprache = 'de_DE';
für (lass ä = 1; ä < ü.länge; ä++) {
wenn (ü[ä] === ö) {
konsole.schreib( 'Das ist gut!');

Comments
  • 11
    don't all companies globally prefer to work with people that are able to speak the local language?

    fun fact: i had a calculator once that had a custom basic dialect - which was completely internationalised.

    if you selected a different language pack for the calculator, it actually translated all code files.
  • 1
    I swear by God that I've seen a kinda Dutch VBA on Mac when I was a kid but can't find any traces of existance
  • 5
    használd "szál";
    állandó nyelv = "hu_HU";
    amíg (legyen ű = 1; ű < ő.hossz; ű++) {
    ha (ő[ű] === dzss) {
    parancssor.írj("Sújt minket az a gyönyörű búbánatos kurvaélet");
  • 1
    This is fun
  • 0
    If I had to work with that code I'd have to drink more bleach.
  • 1
    I forgot to add a swastika emoji. I did not find it on my German keyboard, but it must be there, because every German is still a Nazi, as I just learned on devRant.
  • 1
    I'm a german speaking dev in a german speaking company, here are the reasons why managers don't hire non german speaking devs:

    1. They themselves dont actually speak english well enough to work in english. Neither do any of their bosses. Managers got to their positions by ass licking, not by being smart/competent.

    2. Racism (they dont trust people from poland, czech, hungary, rumania, italy, england)

    3. They dont have a clue how programming works, so they think that devs just have to work hard, but dont have to be smart. They can apply more pressure to native speakers because they can communicate "just work harder you idiot" more indirectly.

    4. Studies say that devs can't communicate well, so that adds to the language barrier that the managers have.

    Whats even worse, is that companies actually require proficient german, meaning someone who learned german but is not a native speaker is not good enough.

    Now my advice: just keep looking. Fuck the german only attitude.
  • 1
    Actually, do you think the "write" in Console.write() is transitive or intransitive? Is it "write the following to the console"? or "write to the console"? I get the impression that most verbs in code are transitive (await comes to mind which could've just as well been the intransitive wait), but for instance in Hungarian the intransitive verbs are shorter so the Hungarian frontend for both Delphi, Logo and MIT Scratch use intransitive verbs, and I think they lend an interesting new perspective to the code.
  • 0
    @lorentz if you wrote this on phone, so much respect. Also, it kills jews doesn't it? I haven't seen @SoldierOfCode since I executed the loop. Guess it executed. I had German at school so I can't do German
  • 0
    Honestly, there are good reasons to do this.

    It's easier to communicate. It's an easy to understand fact that your native language is the one you speak best. Less ambiguities, less misunderstandings, easier to find common ground. Don't forget, most likely if this bothers you, then you're not the average language Joe, but someone with a higher degree of knowledge in a foreign language. Others will not have fun communication in another language over a long period of time.

    I have worked in multi-national teams and it's not easy, even if you're all devs. I'm not talking about cultural differences, but the language barrier. It takes a lot more concentration to explain everything in a foreign language, especially if you're translating reqs at the same time.

    Mostly it has nothing to do with racism, it's just convenience. It can work, we were a great team, but it takes some effort. If you rubbish these requirements, then you're as wrong as the people wording them in the first place.
  • 0
    If communication requires native speakers, something must be wrong in your business as a whole. There are many intelligent people who speak foreign languages, especially English, on a very high level, even better than less intelligent native speakers.

    And if engineers and coders need to talk that much in human languages that native vs. second language matters, your company has much bigger problems. Requirements engineering and strategy meetings _might_ need people that communicate on university level, but again, that does not have to be their first language.

    If regular coding tasks can't be understood without speaking German, requirements engineering is broken.
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