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parens: () brackets: [] braces:{} Versus: brackets: () square brackets: [] curly brackets: {} Still drives me less mad than "inverted commas" though.

by c3534l 4y ago

robocat 4y ago
But don’t many (most?) US programmers call () parentheses? I assume non-programmers in the US call them brackets? 1.9M results: lisp "parentheses" -brackets 800k results: lisp "brackets" -parentheses I admit result counts are more similar if lisp is replaced with “python” or “golang”, but square brackets come up more often for those languages. Disclaimer: I am searching from google.co.nz, and I presume search result counts are not a great proxy measurement for actual usage!
- SmellTheGlove 4y ago
  No. Most US non-programmers call () parentheses, not brackets.
- alexander-litty 4y ago
  In my lifetime, “parentheses” has been the canonical way to refer to () in the US. “Brackets” is an umbrella term that can describe one or all of (), {}, and []. If you’re in a context where only one of the bracket types would normally be used, you can just call them “brackets.” Since many people never really use [] and {}, “brackets” casually refers to (). To disambiguate, you can call () “open brackets”, [] “square brackets”, and {} “curly brackets.” And for the cherry on top, {} can be called “curly braces.” That’s my preferred term for them. But it’s awkward to call [] “square braces” and () “open braces” :)
  - usrn 4y ago
    I've always called the curly ones brackets and the square ones braces.
  - vcxy 4y ago
    > Since many people never really use [] and {}, “brackets” casually refers to (). I have never heard anyone call () "brackets". Is it more regional than just the US maybe?
    - da_chicken 4y ago
      Same. I've seen {} and [] both called braces and brackets, though usually in that respective order. The ambiguity is precisely why they are also called curly braces and square brackets. The double naming is more concrete. I've never seen or heard any programmer call () brackets or braces. It's always parentheses. I may have heard a math or science teacher call them all brackets or braces, however, since they are synonymous there outside of odd exceptions like interval notation.
    - alexander-litty 4y ago
      Fascinating! While I’ve definitely heard “brackets” used in the midwest occasionally, “parenthesis” is the standard term by far.
  - _morgs_ 4y ago
    British English here: "(" is "open bracket" and ")" is "close bracket". Together they are just brackets, not open brackets.
rxhernandez 4y ago
As someone who has lived on the West Coast of the US for decades, I have never heard any American call (), brackets.
- zeven7 4y ago
  Chiming in as someone who has lived decades in both South East US and North East US. I've also never heard () called "brackets" only "parentheses". This includes in and out of programming circles. I assumed the comment saying "parens: ()" was talking about US, but the replies seem to be interpreting the opposite.
  - grouseway 4y ago
    Never? You guys don't use the BEDMAS acronym in grade school for teaching order of operations? I've only ever called them brackets.
    - the_only_law 4y ago
      > BEDMAS Was PEMDAS for us.
    - dragonwriter 4y ago
      > You guys don't use the BEDMAS acronym in grade school for teaching order of operations? No, didn't use any acronym for that in grade school, and when I did encounter one used in grade schools, it was PEMDAS, not BEDMAS.
    - ctxc 4y ago
      BODMAS for us...
      - mathieuh 4y ago
        BODMAS for me too, although the "O" always confused me, the "E" standing for "exponent" always made more sense to me than the O" standing for "[to the power] of"
    - 4y ago
mshockwave 4y ago
Here is what Clang uses: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/589b9df4e15131348b8d94406e0667d6e1b7518b/clang/include/clang/Basic/TokenKinds.def#L184 https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/589b9df4e15131348b... parens: () squares: [] braces: {} basically a mixed of British and American English
c3534l 4y ago
There seems to be some confusion. I am saying the top is American - at least as I was taught it in school. The bottom is the more typically British variant. But I think the reality is the both America and Britain have variations. To an American ear, bracket to mean parenthesis is not just odd, but wrong. But someone already said they consider bracket to be a catchall term, so obviously this is not universal. Edit: okay, apparently there is just complete bracket anarchy across America and words have no fixed meaning.

parens: () brackets: [] braces:{} Versus: brackets: () square brackets: [] curly brackets: {} Still drives me less mad than "inverted commas" though.

by c3534l 4y ago

parens: () brackets: [] braces:{} Versus: brackets: () square brackets: [] curly brackets: {} Still drives me less mad than "inverted commas" though.

robocat 4y ago

But don’t many (most?) US programmers call () parentheses? I assume non-programmers in the US call them brackets? 1.9M results: lisp "parentheses" -brackets 800k results: lisp "brackets" -parentheses I admit result counts are more similar if lisp is replaced with “python” or “golang”, but square brackets come up more often for those languages. Disclaimer: I am searching from google.co.nz, and I presume search result counts are not a great proxy measurement for actual usage!

SmellTheGlove 4y ago
No. Most US non-programmers call () parentheses, not brackets.
alexander-litty 4y ago
In my lifetime, “parentheses” has been the canonical way to refer to () in the US. “Brackets” is an umbrella term that can describe one or all of (), {}, and []. If you’re in a context where only one of the bracket types would normally be used, you can just call them “brackets.” Since many people never really use [] and {}, “brackets” casually refers to (). To disambiguate, you can call () “open brackets”, [] “square brackets”, and {} “curly brackets.” And for the cherry on top, {} can be called “curly braces.” That’s my preferred term for them. But it’s awkward to call [] “square braces” and () “open braces” :)
- usrn 4y ago
  I've always called the curly ones brackets and the square ones braces.
- vcxy 4y ago
  > Since many people never really use [] and {}, “brackets” casually refers to (). I have never heard anyone call () "brackets". Is it more regional than just the US maybe?
  - da_chicken 4y ago
    Same. I've seen {} and [] both called braces and brackets, though usually in that respective order. The ambiguity is precisely why they are also called curly braces and square brackets. The double naming is more concrete. I've never seen or heard any programmer call () brackets or braces. It's always parentheses. I may have heard a math or science teacher call them all brackets or braces, however, since they are synonymous there outside of odd exceptions like interval notation.
  - alexander-litty 4y ago
    Fascinating! While I’ve definitely heard “brackets” used in the midwest occasionally, “parenthesis” is the standard term by far.
- _morgs_ 4y ago
  British English here: "(" is "open bracket" and ")" is "close bracket". Together they are just brackets, not open brackets.

rxhernandez 4y ago

As someone who has lived on the West Coast of the US for decades, I have never heard any American call (), brackets.

zeven7 4y ago
Chiming in as someone who has lived decades in both South East US and North East US. I've also never heard () called "brackets" only "parentheses". This includes in and out of programming circles. I assumed the comment saying "parens: ()" was talking about US, but the replies seem to be interpreting the opposite.
- grouseway 4y ago
  Never? You guys don't use the BEDMAS acronym in grade school for teaching order of operations? I've only ever called them brackets.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    > BEDMAS Was PEMDAS for us.
  - dragonwriter 4y ago
    > You guys don't use the BEDMAS acronym in grade school for teaching order of operations? No, didn't use any acronym for that in grade school, and when I did encounter one used in grade schools, it was PEMDAS, not BEDMAS.
  - ctxc 4y ago
    BODMAS for us...
    - mathieuh 4y ago
      BODMAS for me too, although the "O" always confused me, the "E" standing for "exponent" always made more sense to me than the O" standing for "[to the power] of"
  - 4y ago

mshockwave 4y ago

Here is what Clang uses: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/589b9df4e15131348b8d94406e0667d6e1b7518b/clang/include/clang/Basic/TokenKinds.def#L184 https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/589b9df4e15131348b... parens: () squares: [] braces: {} basically a mixed of British and American English

c3534l 4y ago

There seems to be some confusion. I am saying the top is American - at least as I was taught it in school. The bottom is the more typically British variant. But I think the reality is the both America and Britain have variations. To an American ear, bracket to mean parenthesis is not just odd, but wrong. But someone already said they consider bracket to be a catchall term, so obviously this is not universal. Edit: okay, apparently there is just complete bracket anarchy across America and words have no fixed meaning.