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Posted by Mark A. Boyd on 08/09/06 17:09
On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 09:45:24 GMT, Tony Marston posted in comp.lang.php:
>
> "Mark A. Boyd" <mblist@sanDotrr.com.invalid> wrote in message
> news:Xns9819C73F142DCmblistssanDotrrcom@66.75.164.119...
>> The august Jerry Stuckle posted August:
>>
>>> Tony Marston wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>>> I have told you several times. When most people read a word it has
>>>> the same meaning regardless of case. To suddenly say that by simply
>>>> changing the case of one letter you prodce a totally different word
>>>> is confusing. Maintaining someone else's program where the same word
>>>> is used in multiple places, but because of small differences in case
>>>> it actually becomes a different word would be a nightmare to most
>>>> people.
>>>
>>> Fine. Go teach English.
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> And elsewhere today, Tony Marston wrote:
>>
>>>> That's just your opinion. I still firmly believe that most
>>>> programmers would be confused if they encountered a word with the
>>>> same spelling but different case which actually meant something
>>>> totally different. This is not the case in any spoken language, nor
>>>> is it the case most computer languages. It is confusing, it leads to
>>>> obfuscated and unmaintainable code, therefore it is a bad thing.
>>>> Period. End of story.
>>
>> There you go again. Please don't teach English. You might put another
>> bad mark on our (U.S.) already poor educational system if you are
>> expected to mark a paper by a student named Mark. It may never dawn on
>> you (even in May) that Dawn wrote about Him not about him; that a lamp
>> can help if installing a LAMP at night; that not all dinnerware in
>> China is china; that
>> a march need not be scheduled in March, etc., etc., etc.
>>
>> Tony, if you can't easily see the differences in the words used in the
>> above paragraph - and understand that case changes their meaning to
>> something totally different - then I don't think you'll ever be
>> comfortable
>> with case-sensitive programming languages. I *seriously* doubt that it
>> confuses most programmers when working with written or programming
>> languages. I didn't really think you had this trouble with the written
>> language either, but now that you've reiterated your problem and called
>> it the "End of story", I choose to believe you. Your inability to
>> appreciate the differences determines the "good" or "bad" of it for you
>> and only you.
>>
>> IMO obfuscated and unmaintainable code is written by programmers who
>> are just learning, don't care, in a mad rush, or are doing so
>> intentionally. I can't see where the case-sensitivity of a chosen
>> programming language would
>> be the cause. After all, one should know whether the language supports
>> it or not.
>
> Do you support the idea that the ability to create different functions
> with the *same spelling* but *different case* is a good thing? Can you
> point to any online resources which support this idea?
AFAIR, you're the only person who has mentioned this. Others have stated
that, most often, different case signifies variable, class, constant, etc.
While I feel no compulsion to research who supports what, I personally
wouldn't have a problem using a language with that ability. But I would
discourage the team from using it that way (I care). If somebody did use it
that way, it is as easy to spot as a simple typo: fileread() vs. filread().
Good or bad? Neither - for those of us who can easily see the case
differences in the code and in the written language. It's just the way the
language works. It would be bad for you, though. I suspect your inability to
easily see or appreciate these differences is the root cause of your
objection to case sensitivity - and for this entire thread.
When I was punching code on a panel, I wasn't surprised when a program didn't
do what I expected because I missed a digit or two. The same goes for
typewritten programming languages. After all, the only difference between
upper and lower case is in the numbers sent to the CPU.
If a language converts my typing to the identical numbers/instructions, so be
it. It is documented. It is neither good nor bad.
If a language converts my typing to different numbers/instructions, so be it.
It is documented. It is neither good nor bad.
--
Mark A. Boyd
Keep-On-Learnin' :)
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