Re: Three simple questions

[The Ludwig Family <ludwigs@bellsouth.net>]

Robert Dewar wrote:

> In article <39EA448C.28DF1A2C@bellsouth.net>,
>   The Ludwig Family <ludwigs@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 
> > That's not really true
> 
> Well it is really true in practice, sure you can find some
> examples where case sensitivity matters in English, but you
> have to really reach. After all, we don't have a way of
> pronouncing case, so you are looking for cases which can
> be written and not spoken -- that's really rather rare :-)

Actually, it's not at all rare in most of the applications domains 
I have worked in:  physics, radar engineering, and similar areas.  
We program formulas that are written mathematically, and when we 
discuss the mathematical expressions, we often talk refer to "big s" 
and "little s" for variables when both are used in the same context.  
For units of measurement, we normally say the unit name (as "seconds" 
for "s" and "siemens" for "S").  Of course, when we program the 
formulas, we use "more meaningful names" because it tends to make 
software more understandable and because the syntax of most languages 
do not support case and font sensitivity.

I do grant that most application domains for software development 
do not make use of such scientific/mathematical expressions, so 
perhaps a better phrase would be "it is really true in most practice".

Howard W. LUDWIG