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


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