Rost – Rust Programming in German

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Initial reception and intent

  • Some German speakers say this will help them start learning Rust and even keep their German fresh.
  • Others, including Germans, call it a “horrible idea” and say coding in German feels deeply wrong or unreadable.
  • Several people frame it explicitly as a fun/trolling side project rather than something to take too seriously.

Cognitive load and language habits

  • Many report that programming concepts (types, access modifiers, keywords) are mentally “wired” in English, so German keywords slow them down.
  • Some say they switch all UIs and tools to English because localized terminology feels silly, inconsistent, or mistranslated.
  • A few note the opposite: math/CS learned in their native language can feel harder in English later.

Keyword choices and semantics

  • Multiple comments critique the specific German keyword choices as awkward or semantically off (e.g., “gefährlich” vs. “unsicher” for unsafe, hinein vs. .zu() / .aus() for conversions).
  • Suggestions include more idiomatic or concept-accurate terms (e.g., Verhalten or “Wesenszug” for trait, nutze for use).
  • Some note that the project intentionally diverged from obvious abbreviations, which may hurt readability.

Past localization pain (Excel, BASIC, AppleScript)

  • Several recall Microsoft BASIC and Excel translating keywords and function names by locale, causing confusion and interoperability problems.
  • Locale-dependent decimal separators and separators (comma vs. semicolon) are cited as especially painful.
  • AppleScript’s partial localization is mentioned as another example of messy borders between “language” and “content”.

Programming vs. workplace language politics

  • One thread attacks German-language insistence in multinational workplaces as harmful and tied to broader economic issues; others push back, defending the right to use the local language.
  • Counterarguments stress English as a de facto common language in tech and note that many large German companies already work primarily in English.
  • There’s a meta-debate on whether multilingual keyword systems are trivial (simple 1:1 mappings) or fundamentally flawed and confusing.

Other language variants and humor

  • Links appear to French (Rouille), “universal” Rust (Unirust), and new Polish variants, plus jokes about Bavarian, Swiss German, Italian, and French (“Bordel!”) Rust.
  • The thread is full of German wordplay, mock-long identifiers, capitalization jokes, and historical/linguistic asides.