From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.5-pre1 (2020-06-20) on ip-172-31-74-118.ec2.internal X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.0 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_40 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.5-pre1 Date: 25 Jun 93 21:03:33 GMT From: cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland. reston.ans.net!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!news.umbc.edu!nobody@ucbvax.Berkel ey.EDU (Mike Berman) Subject: Re: Ada Operators in 9x Message-ID: <20fp75INNk3l@umbc4.umbc.edu> List-Id: emery@goldfinger.mitre.org (David Emery) writes: >On the other hand, it's a source of great frustration to have to work >off syntax errors because you forgot the cApitalization conventioN. Exactly. I heard a good rule of thumb yesterday - code should be written so that it can be read and understood over the phone. Not that one would do this, but the idea is that our memory seems more closely tied to what we hear and verbalize, not what we see (actually, the sense of smell is most effectively tied into memory, but that doesn't help just yet). In other words, identifiers should have a unique pronunciation. The presence of unique identifiers which differ only by their case results in code that is harder to understand (and therefore maintain). On a related issues, I have also heard (and believe) that mixed case is easier to read than all upper or all lower. We tend to recognize words by their shape moreso than their spelling. SINCE ALL UPPER CASE IS MORE OF A BLOCK-LIKE STRUCTURE, IT IS INCREMENTALLY HARDER FOR THE BRAIN TO "SEE" WHAT IS WRITTEN. Mixed case has more of an inherent "shape". Plus, it seems like I'm yelling when I write in all uppers. This has strayed from a mainline Ada discussion, but it sure beats griping about DoD policy for once. -- Mike Berman University of Maryland, Baltimore County Fastrak Training, Inc. berman@umbc.edu (301)924-0050 The views represented in the above post are my own.