The argument of zero vs one-based offset is not very new, and since there's a record of musings from Dijkstra on the topic[1], I feel obliged to mention it. No

The argument of zero vs one-based offset is not very new, and since there's a record of musings from Dijkstra on the topic[1], I feel obliged to mention it. Note: Although I'd side with EWD on this one (for now, at least), I don't intend to reference it as an "appeal to authority", but as an example of someone producing a reasonable, properly worded and thought-through argument on the topic, which I've not really seen since. I'd be very interested in what similar arguments would look like from the other perspective. If someone would like to convince me, feel free give me a link to some reasoning :) Also: I personally find "it's always been like this" to be a terrible argument in either case. Those are the reason we weren't able to standardize for one system of units, for example. In the Swiss army, there's a saying that is used to explain the various idiotic decisions and the bogus explications thereof a soldier has to endure: Ist so weil ist so, bleibt so weil war so. Liberally translated: Things are like that because they are like that. All stays that way because it was that way. [1]: EWD831, https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/EWD831.html https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/E...