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Posted by Gertjan Klein on 07/29/06 13:22
Shelly wrote:
[Snip a lot of comments I don't disagree with]
>If Java were not case sensitive would it still
>work? Yes. Is it essential to the language? No. Does it bring benefits?
>Absolutely.
No, it does not. What you have described are conventions used in the
case of symbols to make their "type" (constant, variable, function,
whatever) clear. These conventions are useful for languages that have no
other means to distinguish between these types. I've seen nobody
disputing their usefulness. (Note that you can make a THISTHING that is
not a constant, and a thisThing that is not a variable. The only meaning
of the case used is in the programmer's mind.)
The problem with case sensitive languages is that thisThing and
THISTHING are entirely different. That means they can both exist at the
same time. This can lead to problems in the hands of sloppy or c00l
programmers. I see no benefit in having two "things" with the exact same
name, differing only in case, meaning two entirely different things.
Gertjan.
--
Gertjan Klein <gklein@xs4all.nl>
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