Optional elaboration on some concepts

What allows PsychoPy^® to be translated?

• PsychoPy^® uses wxPython and gettext
• Click the links for more information, but it is probably only of interest to those of you who code in *Python&

Notes on the interchangeability of Git tools

• command-line Git
  • e.g., Terminal on Macs, or the Bash Shell on Windows 10 and later
• GitHub Desktop
• GitFiend
• PyCharm
• Visual Studio Code
• etc.

Where is Git in a folder?

• Git depends almost entirely on a hidden folder in the most superordinate directory of any project:
  • .git (required, the sine qua non, actually)
• There is also almost alwasy a hidden .gitignore file there (though it’s technically optional)

So you can use different Git tools seamlessly

• Software tools like GitHub Desktop and GitKraken and even command-line Git simply refer to the .git folder and the .gitignore file
• Therefore, you can switch among the various Git interfaces seamlessly

Example

• You’re doing something in GitHub Desktop, but hit a wall
• You read that you can fix the issue using the command-line interface
  • e.g., Terminal on a Mac
• You switch to Terminal and pick up where you left off in GitHub Desktop
• Then you go to Visual Studio Code and continue

Notes on Git branches

• Branches in Git are a way of organising the various different things you do within a repository
  • Sometimes a repository has official branches, like PsychoPy^®
    • the dev branch
    • the release branch
  • Often, you create your own branches to organise your work

What is the dev branch?

• for major additions to PsychoPy^®
  • such changes need to be tested extensively so that they don’t “break” the software (e.g., new features, deprecation, etc.)
  • major releases come out about twice a year
• As of the writing of this slide, the current major release is PsychoPy^® 2023.2.2
• This can be read from right-to-left as the 2nd minor (“bug-fix”) release, of the 2nd major release of the year 2023

What is the release branch?

• The release branch corresponds to the rightmost number in the version (see previous slide)
• for minor (aka “bug fix”) releases of PsychoPy^®, where changes can’t really “break” anything
  • bug fixes, documentation typos, etc.
  • and critically, translations
• Changes to the release branch are made public much more often
• Therefore
  • since translations can’t break code, they normally go under the release branch

Notes on translation terminology

Why is translation not exactly the right term?

• software translations are not restricted to linguistic differences
  • includes differences in the following (for example):
    • orthography
    • writing conventions
      • e.g., commas, whether decimal places are represented with commas or full stops, etc.
    • regional differences
      • e.g., taboo words, dialect variation

the source of locale names

• I18n or Internationalization
  • 18
    • the number of letters between the first and last letters of I_nternationalizatio_n
  • makes software available in various languages
• L10n or Localization
  • 10
    • the number of letters between the first and last letters of in L_ocalizatio_n
  • makes software suitable for cultural regions
• Explanation of I18n and L10n on Wikipedia

Notes on language varieties and localisation

• language
  • often varies by region
  • but sometimes not
• For end-users of software
  • sometimes little linguistic differences matter
  • sometimes they don’t

Minor language differences that don’t matter for end-users

• UK and Canada
  • colour, with a <u>
• US
  • color, without a <u>
• Almost inconceivable that this difference would matter to anyone
• Localization to British English not really merited in this case
  • But there’s nothing stopping anyone if they want to
  • (It would be very little work)

Major language differences that do matter for end-users

• Spoken Mandarin in the PRC vs. the ROC
  • quite close (emphasizing spoken)
• But
  • different orthographies
    • PRC
      • simplified Chinese characters
    • ROC
      • traditional Chinese characters

Simplified vs. traditional Examples

• the word experiment (shì yàn)
  • 实验 (in Mainland China)
  • 實驗 (in Taiwan)
• Reading each other’s scripts possible, but annoying
• Localization merited

Translator teams: Choice of locale

• Do you create one locale, or more than one?
  • a team decision, mostly