3 ms·

> While I agree about the points you made, you cant take the zeroth element out of your shopping bag, you take the first one. where does the first centimeter /

> While I agree about the points you made, you cant take the zeroth element out of your shopping bag, you take the first one. where does the first centimeter / inch start in a physical ruler ?

thunky 4y ago
You're both right. You want to measure the distance from a starting point (zero), the person you're replying to wants to count/label things from a starting point (one). The distance method doesn't work as well for picking items from a bag, and the counting method doesn't work as well for calculating offsets. They can both work for arrays, so neither is wrong.
topaz0 4y ago
I'm mad at myself for getting dragged into this, but. Leaving aside the fact that array indexes are not continuous in the way ruler measurements are, what does it say that you just called it the 1st inch, not the 0th?
- jcelerier 4y ago
  > Leaving aside the fact that array indexes are not continuous in the way ruler measurements are, I have always seen a ruler as a discrete sequence of centimeters even if the physical object is continuous > what does it say that you just called it the 1st inch, not the 0th? but it's literally what I'm saying aha. The index of the first element is zero, even on basic household objects.
  - topaz0 4y ago
    > I have always seen a ruler as a discrete sequence of centimeters even if the physical object is continuous I have trouble believing this. Does this mean you think of a ruler as a tool to assign lengths (continuous) to discrete intervals, rather than as a tool to (perhaps imprecisely) measure the (continuous) length.
    - jcelerier 4y ago
      for me a ruler is something that tells me how many centimeters there is in whatever it is I want to measure - but maybe it's for linguistic reasons? e.g. in french I'd say "y'a combien de centimètres là?" when measuring something long with a tape meter and someone's help, which translates to "how many centimeters are there right now?" more or less

> While I agree about the points you made, you cant take the zeroth element out of your shopping bag, you take the first one. where does the first centimeter / inch start in a physical ruler ?

thunky 4y ago

You're both right. You want to measure the distance from a starting point (zero), the person you're replying to wants to count/label things from a starting point (one). The distance method doesn't work as well for picking items from a bag, and the counting method doesn't work as well for calculating offsets. They can both work for arrays, so neither is wrong.

topaz0 4y ago

I'm mad at myself for getting dragged into this, but. Leaving aside the fact that array indexes are not continuous in the way ruler measurements are, what does it say that you just called it the 1st inch, not the 0th?

jcelerier 4y ago
> Leaving aside the fact that array indexes are not continuous in the way ruler measurements are, I have always seen a ruler as a discrete sequence of centimeters even if the physical object is continuous > what does it say that you just called it the 1st inch, not the 0th? but it's literally what I'm saying aha. The index of the first element is zero, even on basic household objects.
- topaz0 4y ago
  > I have always seen a ruler as a discrete sequence of centimeters even if the physical object is continuous I have trouble believing this. Does this mean you think of a ruler as a tool to assign lengths (continuous) to discrete intervals, rather than as a tool to (perhaps imprecisely) measure the (continuous) length.
  - jcelerier 4y ago
    for me a ruler is something that tells me how many centimeters there is in whatever it is I want to measure - but maybe it's for linguistic reasons? e.g. in french I'd say "y'a combien de centimètres là?" when measuring something long with a tape meter and someone's help, which translates to "how many centimeters are there right now?" more or less