From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM, INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,7f4d16c4ee371eb5 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Nick Roberts Subject: Re: Why is it Called a Package? Date: 2000/03/27 Message-ID: <38DFB0BC.9FF72EFC@callnetuk.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 603040404 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <38DF7F38.8D656ABD@lmtas.lmco.com> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 954180282 5648974 212.67.129.136 (16 [25716]) Organization: Computer Consultant Mime-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-03-27T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Gary Scott wrote: > > Admittedly a "fluff" question... > > I notice that a lot of modern languages choose names/syntax that I > personally do not find intuitive. Other languages contain basically the > same feature but call it by different names (module, etc.). Why was > "package" considered the intuitive name for this feature? One answer might be: because a word had to be chosen. Now (if you really want to ruffle some feathers ;-) ask why 'all' was chosen as the word to signify dereferencing (hardly intuitive), why 'others' was chosen as the the word to signify a default value for choices (not very intuitive when, as is quite commonly done, it is the only choice), or why, for that matter, any language uses the words and/or terms 'loop' and 'iteration', when the words 'repeat' and 'repetition' would be easier and more obvious (and 'do' must be the least intuitive of all). Of course, for all those poor souls whose native language is not English, but who must program (Ada and other languages) in English, perhaps you'd better not ask about words being 'intuitive' after all. Imagine it! Ouch. They have my sympathy. -- Nick Roberts http://www.adapower.com/lab/adaos