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The classic example is the keyword 'else,' when the proper English term in that sotution would be 'otherwise.'
by shadowofneptune 4y ago
The classic example is the keyword 'else,' when the proper English term in that sotution would be 'otherwise.'
- Karellen 4y ago> the highest level--the root--of the [Unix] filesystem is always designated with the single character "/" and it always contains the same set of top-level directories [...] Note the obsessive use of abbreviations and avoidance of capital letters; this is a system invented by people to whom repetitive stress disorder is what black lung is to miners. Long names get worn down to three-letter nubbins, like stones smoothed by a river. -- Neal Stephenson, In The Beginning... Was The Command Line, 1999 But also note that sometimes the people who make these decisions later realise that they went too far: > Ken Thompson was once asked what he would do differently if he were redesigning the UNIX system. His reply: "I'd spell creat with an e." -- Kernighan & Pike, The UNIX Programming Environment, 1984
- samatman 4y ago'else' is archaic, rather than wrong. A quote from Shakespeare's Cybeline: If Caesar can hide the sun from us with a blanket, or put the moon in his pocket, we will pay him tribute for light; else, sir, no more tribute, pray you now. If / else is perfectly clear and correct grammar, though we don't use it in modern speech. We've not chosen 'otherwise', else we waste five columns to no end.