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Posted by Tony Marston on 07/28/06 15:09
"Jerry Stuckle" <jstucklex@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jaCdnSDnrpPsn1fZnZ2dnUVZ_vqdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Tony Marston wrote:
>> "Ivan Marsh" <annoyed@you.now> wrote in message
>> news:pan.2006.07.27.15.30.31.757191@you.now...
>>
>>>On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:13:29 +0100, Tony Marston wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>"Jerry Stuckle" <jstucklex@attglobal.net> wrote in message
>>>>news:VZqdndIgAfB2OlXZnZ2dnUVZ_vKdnZ2d@comcast.com...
>>>>
>>>>>Tony Marston wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>"Jerry Stuckle" <jstucklex@attglobal.net> wrote in message
>>>>>>news:WYudnRl91u0MzVrZnZ2dnUVZ_vSdnZ2d@comcast.com...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Tony Marston wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>"Jerry Stuckle" <jstucklex@attglobal.net> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>news:Kb6dnRCvKMxASlvZnZ2dnUVZ_uudnZ2d@comcast.com...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>ImOk wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>I just read a thread about this and I thought I would just add my
>>>>>>>>>>2cents why this situation exists.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>In the stone age days, keyboards did not have lowercase. So
>>>>>>>>>>everything was typed in uppercase. No one bitched about it. Now
>>>>>>>>>>with upper and lower case keyboards people bitch and curse.
>>>>>>>>>>Including myself. But I live with it.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>The main reason why we have case sensitivity in programming
>>>>>>>>>>languages goes back to the start of cave man days of language
>>>>>>>>>>development: Compilation and interpretation performance. A
>>>>>>>>>>compiler
>>>>>>>>>>does not have to
>>>>>>>>>>convert symbols to upper case or lower case or whatever. Also,
>>>>>>>>>>only
>>>>>>>>>>one
>>>>>>>>>>way to have a symbol table in memory. This reasoning goes back to
>>>>>>>>>>the days of slow CPU's and low memory. Today, one could argue
>>>>>>>>>>otherwise.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Same thing for many of the OSes of the world.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>So, they didn't force case sensitivity on us out of concern of the
>>>>>>>>>>English language (Only Smalltalk cares about this in a serious
>>>>>>>>>>manner).
>>>>>>>>>>After all look at the crappy function names in maney languages
>>>>>>>>>>including C and PHP.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>There are many things that we are stuck with for historical
>>>>>>>>>>reasons
>>>>>>>>>>that dont make sense today. But these days with autocompletion it
>>>>>>>>>>shouldn't be much of an issue. Provided you are not using NoTePaD.
>>>>>>>>>>Although I dislike VB for other reasons it does it it best. If you
>>>>>>>>>>declare a variable, it will go through and fix it everywhere the
>>>>>>>>>>same way. No questions asked.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Ok, sorry about my rant.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>This has been hashed and rehashed ad nauseum in this group. If you
>>>>>>>>>want to read about it, check Google Groups.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Please let it drop. It's not going to change anything - or
>>>>>>>>>anyone's
>>>>>>>>>mind.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>This is a typical instance of a small number of small minded coders
>>>>>>>>trying to enforce their idea of what is "pure" on everybody. The
>>>>>>>>whole idea sucks big time.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Agreed. You are trying to enforce your ideas on everybody.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>No I'm not. It is the other way around. All computer languages and
>>>>>>operating systems were orginally case-insensitive. Windows is still
>>>>>>case-nsensitive, as are all the Windows products. Then a few
>>>>>>lame-brains thought that case sensitivity would be really "kewl" and
>>>>>>they are now trying to enforce their pathetic ideas on everybody else.
>>>
>>>Sorry to jump in the middle of this but... no they weren't.
>>>
>>>C, the language that Windows was written in, is and has always been case
>>>sensitive.
>>
>>
>> The Windows OS is, and has always been, case-insensitive. So have all the
>> tools such as Word, Notepad, etc.
>>
>> All the operating systems and languages which I used before Personal
>> Computers and Windows existed, such as mainframes and mini-computers,
>> were all case-insensitive. Just because one particular language enforced
>> case-sensitivity should not mean that it now has to be enforced on every
>> language and every operating system.
>>
>
>
> Yea, and Tony expects the rest of the world to remain in the "computer
> dark ages" with antiquated tools and techniques - just because HE doesn't
> like them.
I have been in the IT business for over 30 years and I have seen and adapted
to many changes. Some changes have been for the better, but some have been
not so good. If there is a good reason for a change, something which has
logic and proven benefits, then I have no problem with it.
My point is that for the best part of those 30 years all the operating
systems, languages and tools that I have encountered have been
case-insensitive, yet some lame-brain decided to change this and now wants
to enforce that decision on everyone else. Can you explain to me the
justification for this switch? What on earth was the problem that has
case-sensitivity as the solution?
All I hear on this newsgroup is along the lines of "I have only been
programming for 5 minutes and have only ever used one OS (unix) and one
language (C or C++) and that is case-sensitive, so that's the way it is".
Not much of an argument, is it?
As far as I am concerned switching from case-insensitive to case-sensitive
languages creates more problems than it solves, therefore it is a bad
solution and should be dropped.
That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
--
Tony Marston
http://www.tonymarston.net
http://www.radicore.org
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