You learn to program in English. if, for, return, function — and when something goes wrong, the error message is in English too. If you aren't fluent, you fight on two fronts at once: against the logic and against the vocabulary.
Kiste turns that around. It is a German programming language — the commands are German (wenn, solange, funktion, gib), the error messages are German and clear, and so is the handbook. You think in your own language and learn programming, not English on the side.
Not a toy
German programming languages have existed before — mostly as a teaching exercise, a handful of translated keywords, and then it stopped. Kiste is something else: a complete language with real tooling around it.
- Its own integrated development environment (IDE) with syntax colouring, error highlighting as you type, auto-complete, and a GUI designer for clicking windows together via drag and drop.
- A one-click installer for Windows and Linux: download, double-click, go. And your own program becomes a real, standalone application you can hand to anyone.
- A growing standard library: files, images, a database (SQLite), ZIP archives, networking, audio.
The best proof that a language holds up is the programs you build with it. Kiste has already produced, among others, KistePix, a full pixel editor with layers and animation, and Sternjäger, an arcade space shooter — about 700 lines of Kiste in a single file. Both run on Windows and on Linux, because Kiste builds for both systems from the same code.
Who is it for?
For anyone who wants to learn programming in German — without the language barrier on top. And for anyone who wants more than "Hello World": a real tool that builds small scripts, desktop programs and games.
Kiste is young and not yet signed with a paid certificate — more on that later. But it is already remarkably capable today, and it keeps growing.
Try it
You don't need to install anything for a first look: in the playground Kiste runs right in your browser. To go deeper, download the Kiste IDE for Windows or Linux and work through the handbook — from "Hello World" to a finished app.
Programming, in your own language.