[Answer] If I Sometimes Can't Understand Translated Foreign Books, Is It My Problem? How Can I Improve This Situation?

[Answer] If I Sometimes Can't Understand Translated Foreign Books, Is It My Problem? How Can I Improve This Situation?

Programming C#, Build Cloud, Web, and Desktop Applications is a very good C# tutorial. Compared with most similar books, it has several strengths: a large number of rich examples explained in an accessible way; some highly insightful programming ideas; concise but illuminating introductions to the latest features of the C# language and how to use them; and clear warnings about especially important areas and parts that are prone to errors. It is helpful both for beginners and for readers who want to improve their programming skills or learn about newer C# language features.

Unfortunately, the Chinese edition, C# Programming: Building Cloud, Web, and Desktop Applications, translated jointly by Chen Ying, Li Jihong, and Jia Aiguang, turned the Chinese version of this book into a complete mess. Although the code and most of the content are still barely understandable, the translation is nowhere near as smooth and readable as the original. In some places, if you do not consult the English text, the meaning is simply impossible to grasp. And once you do read the original, you start wondering whether these three translators did not understand English, or did not understand programming, to produce such astonishingly misguided passages.

For example, the title of section 2.8.1 in the Chinese edition is translated as “A More Specific Time,” which has nothing to do with the surrounding context. Taken at face value, it is complete nonsense. Only after looking at the original heading, “Getting more specific with when,” does it make sense: in a case clause, when can be used to perform more precise matching. For example:

case (int w, int h) when w > h:
    Console.WriteLine("Landscape");
    break;

If the translators understood English, how could they translate “Getting more specific with when” as “A More Specific Time”? Where did “time” even come from? And what happened to the meaning of “with”? If they understood even a little programming, they should have been able to see from the sample code that when here is a C# keyword, not a reference to time. So why produce such irresponsible, misleading, and harmful translation? I do not know.

I remember Lu Xun once said: “I do not hesitate to speculate about others with the worst malice, but I will never use that to make sweeping accusations.” I feel the same way.