Plural of Batch

Question

The word batch has found its way into German production halls as the "cool" form of Charge. For a technical document I need the German plural of the word Batch. I would personally go for Batche, but the spellcheck only allows Batches. Duden et al. don't list the word batch at all (or I'm too blind to find it).

I can't use the real German word Charge because it would not be intuitive for the people reading the document.

What is the "correct" form?

Answer 1

Final Edit: So as there is no entry for batch in duden yet, there would be no "correct" form. You are free to choose it on your own. In general I strongly recommend german words. But as it is a technical document, I guess, it is obvious to use the english word. And it's plural would be Batches. See the links mentioned in the comments below, for usage-style.

Answer 2

»Charge« is not a german word. It is french. And it is not used in IT.

batch

Used as a noun its correct german translation (in the world of IT) is "Stapel". This comes from the times when computer-programs was encoded in batches (piles) of punchcards. And still the german term for "batch processing" is "Stapelverarbeitung".

I did understand, that you want to write about two (or more) small pieces of software that can be used to change (update) another piece of software that is usually bigger. In common speach we call the bigger piece of software that will be changed "the program" and the smaller change-makers are called "batches".

In German we call the big piece of software "das Programm" and the smaller change-makers are in german "die Updates" (singular: "das Update").

In a technical documentation that is written for technical experts or power-users you can also use the term "der Batch" with the plural "die Batches". That we use english grammar for bending this word comes from the fact, that it is not a part of "common german". It is just a technical term in some technical documentations that will not be translated since there is no well-fitting german word.

When you process a batch to change a system, then we say in German: "Einen Batch einspielen" (verbatim: "play in a batch").

Charge

In German we use the french word "Charge" to describe an amount of an product, that is made at one time. If you produce ketchup, then each barrel of ketchup is a separate Charge. We also have a real german word for this, which is "Los" or "Produktionslos", but this is used very rarely. And in IT neither german "Los" nor french "Charge" are used. We have "Programme" (singular: das Programm), Batches (der Batch) and Updates (das Update).

Answer 3

Batche sounds odd to me. Simply use the English plural: Batches. But with a capital B, please.
This is what the native speakers do: Not think of it as a problem and use an English word. And if necessary - its plural.
One may be happy about it or not.
Btw.: Neither of the terms Chargen, Batches or Lose sound cool to me. And be sure that there isn't any difference in meaning between Batch and Charge! (I know a special case in the production of semicondutor wafers where a Batch is different to a Charge)