CNN iReport

Ya, that’s probably a really big if. Or is it? Not after some recent news out of the ICANN (that’s Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Wait, you didn’t already know that?) that non-Latin characters are now fair game in website domain names. You heard correctly, all of your favorite Russian, Japanese, Greek, Macedonian, and (insert vague rarely used language here) are now usable on the Internet! World peace is now plausible! Cancer can now be cured! World hunger is a thing of the past!

This is great and all, but brought back something I was thinking about during a programming class about a year ago….

Let’s face it, America isn’t her old self. The Yankees may still be the World Champs (Go Yanks!), but our economy is not what it once was. The recent focus has been on China and their economy, and how they may be the next “it” country (as if it were a trend). For years English has been the accepted language worldwide. That of course is (was?) due to our economy and strength as a nation. Though our economy seems to be recovering ever so slightly, what if it doesn’t recover to the level it once was? What if, at some point down the road, we are not the center of the global economy, a nation upon all others look up at? What if a country, like China, takes our mantle? Will the worldwide accepted language begin to shift towards Chinese? Worst case scenario, yes, but a scenario, nonetheless.

To me, I see it as a programmer’s (and plenty of others’) worst nightmare! All the underlying code that is letting you see this very information, and whatever information you consume next, or whatever program or function you run later, it is all programmed in English. Would all computers need to be reprogrammed in Chinese? Or has English claimed the throne as the standard programming language for all eternity? For everyone’s sake, I only hope the latter is true. The few people I brought this question up to were unable to answer it.

Think about it this way. Would you want the image below (code that solves simple math calculations, like a 4-function calculator), to become the image at bottom? (click for larger pictures):

Every time I think about all of this, I fear I am being too pessimistic. I am just trying to be a little realistic, and want to preempt this issue before it becomes one (unless it already has). Is that such a crime? Here’s another question for you: What do YOU think? Is English here to stay in the programing world, or will our nightmares be realized at some point in the future? Will we all go from Google-ing to 谷歌-ing?