10 German words/phrases you may need to know as a developer

These are terms that I, personally, hear very often at work. Initially I had moments of confusion but with time I got accustomed to them. I hope this list helps those that recently started working in Germany.

Schleife

Loop

How do we loop through an array of objects ?

Fehler beheben

To fix a bug

When a bug arises, one needs to fix it.

I stayed up all night trying to fix the bug.

Lokal laufen

To run something on your local machine

A developer may need to test a project on a local machine before releasing it to the internet, where the customers gain access to the UI/data.

Testdaten erstellen

Generate mock data

If you have completed the frontend part of your project but the backend is yet to be finished, you may have to create mock data to test the UI.

Issue / ticket erstellen

Create an issue

To create an issue in a project management/tracking platform e.g. JIRA

Aufwandsschätzung erstellen

Make an estimate of development duration

When a client either desires a new feature or a new project, the project manager (PM) usually requests for the number of hours to be invested in the project. Since deadlines / scheduling are not always a reflection of reality, the PM will simply as for an estimation for either frontend or /and backend development.

Bedingungen

Requirements

Every project has specific requirements or specifications that the developer has to fulfill. I frequently hear “Anforderung” used instead.

Kundenauftrag

Customer/Client order

A client will exchange money for some of the projects you will be working on or services you are providing. Even additional features on existing projects are “orders” that have been paid for.

Anpassung releasen oder freigeben

To release a fix

As mentioned above under “Lokal laufen”, there are times when a project is tested before it is released online. This can be done with simple bug fixes.

Pflichtfeld

Required field

When creating a registration or login form, most often, developers set fields such as password and username/email fields as mandatory fields. Meaning, these fields should not be empty or else, the form cannot be accepted.

Issue jemandem zuweisen

To assign an issue to someone

This may happen,for instance, when a bug arises and the project manager creates an associated ticket. The developer who is responsible for fixing the bug will get assigned to the issue by the issue owner (PM).