Posted by ECRIA Public Mail Buffer on 06/03/05 01:17

Why one may use "echo" instead of "print":

It's a semantic choice - "print" implies that something will be printed.
Since nothing is printed, but rather strings are added to a stream (the HTML
'file'), it is more understandable to use a term that reflects the actual
process, such as "echo" - which is more symbolic of the event - the process
of sending something back to the client making the request.

Recall that the original use of the "print" statement was to do just that -
to physically print some output. BASIC was originally developed at Dartmouth
College in 1964. The first monochrome CTR displays were introduced in the
'70s. At the time BASIC was developed, printing was about the most advanced
output method available. Nowadays, when even CRT's are declining in use,
It's fair to say that the term "print" is semantically deprecated (in the
sense that it is referred to here).

ECRIA
http://www.ecria.com

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