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> I argue with my coworkers often about it. I fail to see what possible value this has.
by michaelcampbell 9y ago
> I argue with my coworkers often about it.
I fail to see what possible value this has.
- chrisseaton 9y agoMaybe it's significant in their line of work? For example work involving Java semantics, such as language research.
- colanderman 9y agoPeople write incorrect code when they don't understand the semantics. I see this often in Python, especially surrounding its behavior with default parameters.
- alangpierce 9y agoPedantic arguments like this can be a good source of fun as long as everyone approaches it in a lighthearted way and acknowledges that it's pedantic. I could certainly see a conversation around pass-by-value/reference happening in my office, but if it got to the point of people getting angry at each other, that would be a sign that something is very wrong. When actually communicating with people for the purpose of conveying ideas (not just for fun), it's best to avoid terminology where not everyone has the same understanding of the definition. Open discussions about terminology are also a good way to identify these types of ambiguous terms and possibly come up with technical terms that everyone agrees on.