Bityi (translating code editor)

Almost all programming is done in programming "languages" based on English. These are really codes, much less than languages, with a limited vocabulary. Still, it's a significant barrier for other-language programmers, especially young ones. A modern computer, even a cheap one, would have no trouble doing transparent, real-time translation into the user's natural language. For instance, on disk you'd have python "if ... else...", but on screen, you'd see "si... sino...".

To make my proposal a little more specific:

• Based on scintilla (BOB open-source editing component, already does coloring and folding).
• If the user unknowingly used an English keyord on-screen, it would be "escaped" with a prefix like "ES_" on disk.
• Similarly, if a program used a whateverlanguage keyword, it could be escaped on-screen.
• A right-click on any word shows the English version, obviously includes easy option to turn translation off globally.
• By default, only translates keywords for given programming language, but includes option to have cascading translation files for files and the libraries they use. These could be created on-the-fly using right-clicks with dictionary support.

a few implementation brainstorms...

• Only what's actually on screen need be duplicated in memory
• The cursor counts as a wordbreak for speed reasons.

Interested? Contact me....--Homunq 16:20, 25 July 2007 (EDT)