Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
Jon Hawks
hawksj@yahoo.com
Thu, 13 May 2004 16:46:51 -0700 (PDT)
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Hello All,
Once upon a time back in the 1970's and 1980's software development tools were proliferating across platforms. Nothing unusual in this early time, syntax bound languages differentiated themselves by these little quirks. A few college profs and students joined in and not suprising they still have a few lines of code running around. Let's see, Powerhouse remained consistent. Ingres/OSL was spawned by Stonebreaker and Butterworth, and Butterworth went on to create Forte. Basic turned into Perl and Pascal turned into Delphi. SPL sadly died but a couple techies, I surmise, added to a little funny language of late called Java. Almost verbatim in many aspects. We saw script languages proliferate for PC based activities and watch apostrophe's, comma's, periods, #, and $ come about as part of syntax and oddly many simply were used in place of the same command as some other vendor, who capitalize on some other character. The > sign seems to have made it's way as the prompt in place of the old
bang sign !. The octal character % has taken on peculiar meaning across platforms and the & and - may still have a use as a line continuation character. Funny how these roots make their way to looking new, especially to new comers in the last 15 years or so. Separation characters have settled in some with the comma, | pipe and tab. Some languages even permit you to define your own character set for these. Many languages, even Powerhouse, find their roots in good old COBOL. Take a look at an old manual. Anybody have an idea what happened to Fortran? C still has a life in engineering and C++ has a life in code generators. I still now and then wonder what happened to A and APL. And the SQL language is still trying to make a way to be a transaction based code-set. I guess applying cartesian algebra to datasets has gone by the wayside in favor of practical extracts. Who knows what's next?
The Old Man,
Jon Hawks
Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com> wrote:
they do say that column names should be kept short - for parsing performance ? - but I don't know if this is limited to relational databases or if it includes the IMAGE database :)
>From: Robert Edis <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>
>To: PowerHouse List <powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
>Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
>Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 12:37:12 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Was that the variable '_' or a one char string containing the underscore character? :)
>
>Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com> wrote:
>could it be that you don't have to press the shift key all of the time ? :-)
>
>It's also often used on VMS platforms and I'd use it in place of the '_' if databases accepted it.
>
>
>
> >From: "Deskin, Bob" <Bob.Deskin@cognos.com>
> >To: "Robert Edis" <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>, "PowerHouse List" <powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
> >Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
> >Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 21:56:30 -0400
> >
> >The single quote is one of the default special characters allowed in PowerHouse names. I'd have to check, but it may be allowed in IMAGE names as well which is why it would have been included. Similarly, IMAGE allows hyphens but not underscores. Since PowerHouse started on MPE and IMAGE was big, well, that's the history.
> >Bob Deskin
> >Product Manager, Application Development Tools
> >Cognos Inc. 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa ON K1G 4K9 CANADA
> >bob.deskin@cognos.com (613) 738-1338 ext 7268
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com [mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com]On Behalf Of Robert Edis
> >Sent: May 10, 2004 8:09 PM
> >To: PowerHouse List
> >Subject: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
> >
> >
> >I've seen a number of people use apostrophies in field names with PowerHouse. WHY????
> >
> >They confuse the heck out of me when trying to visually parse code as they can be mistaken for the beginning or ending of the string litteral.
> >
> >What's wrong with using under[score|bar]s? Much more readable.
> >
> >Blue
> >
> > This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you may not use, copy, disseminate or distribute it; do not open any attachments, delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender promptly by e-mail that you have done so. Thank you.
> >
>
>
>
>---------------------------------
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>
>Robert JM Edis
>Principle Consultant
>Robert Edis Consulting
>P.O. Box 676
>Deerfield IL 60015
>USA
>1-847-612-3863
>RobEConsult@sbcglobal.net
>
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<DIV>Hello All,</DIV>
<DIV>Once upon a time back in the 1970's and 1980's software development tools were proliferating across platforms. Nothing unusual in this early time, syntax bound languages differentiated themselves by these little quirks. A few college profs and students joined in and not suprising they still have a few lines of code running around. Let's see, Powerhouse remained consistent. Ingres/OSL was spawned by Stonebreaker and Butterworth, and Butterworth went on to create Forte. Basic turned into Perl and Pascal turned into Delphi. SPL sadly died but a couple techies, I surmise, added to a little funny language of late called Java. Almost verbatim in many aspects. We saw script languages proliferate for PC based activities and watch apostrophe's, comma's, periods, #, and $ come about as part of syntax and oddly many simply were used in place of the same command as some other vendor, who capitalize on some other character. The > sign seems to have made it's way as the prompt in place of
the old bang sign !. The octal character % has taken on peculiar meaning across platforms and the & and - may still have a use as a line continuation character. Funny how these roots make their way to looking new, especially to new comers in the last 15 years or so. Separation characters have settled in some with the comma, | pipe and tab. Some languages even permit you to define your own character set for these. Many languages, even Powerhouse, find their roots in good old COBOL. Take a look at an old manual. Anybody have an idea what happened to Fortran? C still has a life in engineering and C++ has a life in code generators. I still now and then wonder what happened to A and APL. And the SQL language is still trying to make a way to be a transaction based code-set. I guess applying cartesian algebra to datasets has gone by the wayside in favor of practical extracts. Who knows what's next?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Old Man,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jon Hawks<BR><BR><B><I>Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<DIV>
<DIV class=RTE>
<P>they do say that column names should be kept short - for parsing performance ? - but I don't know if this is limited to relational databases or if it includes the IMAGE database :)<BR><BR></P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: Robert Edis <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>
<DIV></DIV>>To: PowerHouse List <powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 12:37:12 -0700 (PDT)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Was that the variable '_' or a one char string containing the underscore character? :)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com> wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>could it be that you don't have to press the shift key all of the time ? :-)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>It's also often used on VMS platforms and I'd use it in place of the '_' if databases accepted it.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> >From: "Deskin, Bob" <Bob.Deskin@cognos.com>
<DIV></DIV>> >To: "Robert Edis" <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>, "PowerHouse List" <powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
<DIV></DIV>> >Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
<DIV></DIV>> >Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 21:56:30 -0400
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >The single quote is one of the default special characters allowed in PowerHouse names. I'd have to check, but it may be allowed in IMAGE names as well which is why it would have been included. Similarly, IMAGE allows hyphens but not underscores. Since PowerHouse started on MPE and IMAGE was big, well, that's the history.
<DIV></DIV>> >Bob Deskin
<DIV></DIV>> >Product Manager, Application Development Tools
<DIV></DIV>> >Cognos Inc. 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa ON K1G 4K9 CANADA
<DIV></DIV>> >bob.deskin@cognos.com (613) 738-1338 ext 7268
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >-----Original Message-----
<DIV></DIV>> >From: powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com [mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com]On Behalf Of Robert Edis
<DIV></DIV>> >Sent: May 10, 2004 8:09 PM
<DIV></DIV>> >To: PowerHouse List
<DIV></DIV>> >Subject: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >I've seen a number of people use apostrophies in field names with PowerHouse. WHY????
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >They confuse the heck out of me when trying to visually parse code as they can be mistaken for the beginning or ending of the string litteral.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >What's wrong with using under[score|bar]s? Much more readable.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >Blue
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you may not use, copy, disseminate or distribute it; do not open any attachments, delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender promptly by e-mail that you have done so. Thank you.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>---------------------------------
<DIV></DIV>>Have more fun with your phone - download ringtones, logos, screensavers, games & more. Click here to begin! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mailing list: powerh-l@lists.sowder.com Subscribe: "subscribe" in message body to powerh-l-request@lists.sowder.com Unsubscribe: "unsubscribe
<DIV></DIV>>" in message body to powerh-l-request@lists.sowder.com http://lists.sowder.com/mailman/listinfo/powerh-l This list is closed, thus to post to the list you must be a subscriber.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Robert JM Edis
<DIV></DIV>>Principle Consultant
<DIV></DIV>>Robert Edis Consulting
<DIV></DIV>>P.O. Box 676
<DIV></DIV>>Deerfield IL 60015
<DIV></DIV>>USA
<DIV></DIV>>1-847-612-3863
<DIV></DIV>>RobEConsult@sbcglobal.net
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV></DIV>= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mailing list: powerh-l@lists.sowder.com Subscribe: "subscribe" in message body to powerh-l-request@lists.sowder.com Unsubscribe: "unsubscribe <PASSWORD>" in message body to powerh-l-request@lists.sowder.com http://lists.sowder.com/mailman/listinfo/powerh-l This list is closed, thus to post to the list you must be a subscriber.</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>
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