Coding in Russian: students will be taught how to program in Cyrillic

Russian students began to learn Cyrillic programming. In this way, teachers want to strengthen the national language in programming and protect domestic products. While the software is not in English, it is used, in particular, in China and India. The initiative was launched at Penza State University, and the JavaScript language has been modified. However, this raises a number of questions for experts. Such an approach can be harmful when working in international organizations and distort the development of existing standards.

Cyrillic programming

Penza State University (PSU) has started teaching Cyrillic programming to students. The initiative is aimed at strengthening the role of the national language in the IT sector and creating domestic solutions that are independent of English-language standards.

University teachers have modified the popular JavaScript language, completely translating its syntax and task conditions into Russian. Now future specialists write code without a single Latin letter. This approach facilitates the learning of programming and removes the language barrier, said Andrey Dikov, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Teaching Methods in Computer Science and Mathematics.

— Before starting a solution, students often spend time translating the terms of the problem. This slows down the learning process. We have translated dozens of assignments and released two collections so that everyone can focus on the essence rather than the vocabulary," he explained.

The university has already registered a patent for its own development — "Autotesting sports programming tasks in JS with patriotic content." The package is integrated into the Codewars online platform and allows students to solve problems with automatic verification of code written in Russian.

The methodology focuses on gamification: the rating system, based on the principles of Japanese martial arts, turns tasks into "duels" between participants, and the "kumite" mode (free sparring) involves a series of exercises without using English words.

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The educational complex has an "import substitution" task: students need to offer original solutions to problems where all English-language terms (for example: data science, deployment, vibe coding) are replaced with Russian. According to Andrey Dikov, this approach increases student engagement.

— The practice of using national languages in software development is not new and has been successfully applied in Southeast Asian countries. The Chinese have an Easy Programming Language (EPL), and in some Arab countries they prefer Qalb, which has become a kind of response to the excessive amount of English in programming. The Mama learning language supports Hebrew, while in India the Hindawi Programming System is used," Semyon Molchanov, a programmer and IT specialist, told Izvestia.

The developments of PSU are already used not only in universities, but also in schools. Teachers note that the transition to Cyrillic code makes programming more accessible to those who do not speak English, and also strengthens the position of the Russian language in technical education.

Occupational risks

However, the new initiative has sparked discussion in the professional community. Some experts fear that the complete abandonment of English terminology may make it difficult for graduates to adapt to the international IT environment and distance them from generally accepted standards. Nevertheless, PSU is confident that the Cyrillic alphabet experiment will be a step towards the formation of a national programming school that is distinctive, understandable and technologically independent.

Vladimir Zykov, director of the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers, recalled that JavaScript already supports Cyrillic in the names of variables and functions, but keywords like function or if remain only in English. According to him, it's not difficult to create a "Russian script", but the interpreter layer can make mistakes. He also noted the professional risks: programmers who are accustomed to Russian code may find themselves outside the international market, where English is the norm.

Anton Averyanov, CEO of the ST IT group of companies, believes that the idea is interesting, but it is completely impossible to implement it.

— JavaScript is a complex language with thousands of libraries in English. We'll have to work with the original anyway," the expert said.

He added that learning Russified code would make it difficult to switch to other languages and interact with the community.

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Artem Aksyanov, director of the Web Development Department at Synergy University, called the PSU project timely, but stressed that it could lead to technological isolation.

— A graduate who is proficient in Cyrillic JavaScript will be unable to quickly connect a ready-made library or find a solution to the problem. In conditions of a shortage of personnel in IT, which is discussed at all relevant conferences, we risk getting not a strengthening, but a weakening of our human resources potential. Such a specialist will need a long and expensive retraining," he noted.

According to him, Cyrillic syntax is justified in schools, where it is important to develop algorithmic thinking without a language barrier, but not in professional training. The entire global programming landscape is built in English — this is not a fashion issue, but a compatibility issue. It is more rational to use Cyrillic alphabet in the early stages of learning, while maintaining knowledge of English as the key to the global IT environment, he added.