jstranslator - JavaScript Translator

A JavaScript to Human-English translator.

Take any JavaScript file and put it through jstranslator.js to understand how the code works in plain English.

Problem Definition

Whilst reading JavaScript, in my mind I am constantly translating the code into human english, so I decided in true programmer-lazy fashion to write a script to do this "translating" for me automatically.

It will also probably help those new to JavaScript to help understand the language better.

Further, I realized something very interesting...

...Unlike human-to-human translations, machine-to-human translations can be much more accurate because the rules of programming exist under a set of strict conditions and parameters.

Therefore, machine-to-human translation engines have the opportunity to really become extremely accurate and useful, especially in helping us understand more complex programs and undocumented code.

How It Works

The script uses regular expressions to count, find and replace code. Simples.

Existing comments are preserved.

Here is a (very) basic input and output:

Input (sample.js)

var boolean = true;
var string = "string";
var number = 1;
var list = [1, [1,2,'3',["four",5,"six"]], "3"];
var emptylist = [];

function func(number) {
	var result = number + 1;
	return result;
}

// comment

var object = {
	1 : 1,
	2 : {0:0, '0':{'key':'value'}},
	"3" : "3"
};

if (boolean === true) {
	console.log(true);
} else if (boolean == false) {
	console.log(false);
} else {
	console.log("else");
}

for (key in object) {
	for (value in object[key]) {
		console.log(value);
		console.log(object[key]);
	}
}

/* block comment */

for(var i = 0;i<list.length;i++){
	console.log(list[i]);
}

Output

variable true or false (boolean) #equals# true; 
variable string #equals# "string"; 
variable number #equals# 1; 
variable list #equals# [1, [1,2,'3',["four",5,"six"]], "3"]; 
variable emptylist #equals# [] (empty list); 

create the function func(number) {
	variable result #equals# number + 1; 
	and outputs result; 
}

// comment

variable object #equals# {
	1 : 1,
	2 : {0:0, '0':{'key':'value'}},
	"3" : "3"
}; 

if the following condition is true:  (true or false (boolean) #is absolutely equal to# true) {
	log in the console: (true); 
} otherwise if the following condition is true:  (true or false (boolean) #is equal to# false) {
	log in the console: (false); 
} otherwise {
	log in the console: ("otherwise"); 
}

for (key inside object) {
	for (value inside object[key]) {
		log in the console: (value); 
		log in the console: (object[key]); 
	}
}

/* block comment */

for(variable i #equals# 0; i#is less than#list.length; i#increase by one#){
	log in the console: (list[i]); 
}

To Do

• Switch to using esprima.js for wider code coverage and more accurate translations
• Add in support for more complex coding scenarios e.g. prototypal inheritance, anonymous functions, asynchronous functions, callbacks etc.
• Add in support for plugging in multiple, custom translations (e.g. JavaScript to US English, JavaScript to French - cool idea huh?)
• Use popular libraries such as jQuery, Backbone.js as a litmus test

Author & Version

v0.0.1 (pre-Alpha) by Jasdeep Khalsa. Not for production use.

Contact

• Email: jasdeep {at} simplyspiritdesign {dot} com
• Twitter: @JasdeepKhalsa1