Do there exist any compilers with localized versions of programming languages?

Question

I have often wondered why it is that non-English speaking programmers are forced to use a different language when programming when it would seem to be so easy to offer an IDE that could replace keywords with localized versions. Why can't the Germans use a "während..macht" loop?

Do programmers in Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Botswana just make extensive use of macros/define statements to make life more tolerable or do they just get used to the functional significance of print, if, then, while, do, begin, end, var, double, function, etc?

Perhaps the increased use of frameworks (J2EE/.NET) makes this more complicated, but it still seems worthwhile. On the other hand, if Klingon became the de-facto programming language in the US I'd probably regret suggesting this.

Answer 1

In most programming languages, keywords are reserved, so they can't be used for variable names etc.

Now suppose the keywords changed every time you changed culture - code written in one culture couldn't be ported to another without changing identifiers. Ick. Furthermore, when anyone copied their code onto a question forum like this, we'd no longer be speaking the same language, as it were.

There are distinct advantages to only having one culture in the programming language itself...

Answer 2

This sort of thing isn't unique to computer languages. All the control words for music are in Italian (andante, allegro, crescendo, etc.). This has worked well for a long time.

Besides, it allows programs to be shared more easily. Suppose you were trying to integrate a function from a Finnish programmer into a module in French, and wanted to send it for further integration to your Australian colleague.