At 04:29 09.07.2001 -0800, Michael Fowler wrote:
>On Mon, Jul 09, 2001 at 01:59:28PM +0200, Aaron Craig wrote:
> > You are correct -- I should have read the documention :) However, in
> every
> > day programming-speak, list and array get tossed about in such a way that
> > they become synonymous.
>
>They shouldn't be. The distinction can be important (see further down).
>Part of being a programmer is being very exact in what terms one uses. This
>stems from the fact that computers require exact input.
Which is exactly my point. I've been hanging around this list a while, and
programming Perl for a lot longer, and this is the first time the issue has
ever come up -- I admit that I didn't even know there was a difference
until today. If there was such an important distinction between the two, I
wonder why the issue was never raised before now.
I admit that I still have a lot to learn about the intricate details of
Perl, but this point seems to be on the verge of hairsplitting.
>Even if the distinction isn't important except in academic circles (and
>that's a big if), we are effectively -in- an academic circle; we're teaching
>people how to use Perl, so we need to be consist in our terminology.
I agree completely. I should have looked the term up myself before
responding to the question. My only defense is that as it's something that
has never caused me a problem, I never had a need to look it up in the docs :)
At any rate, your points are taken, and I'll be more careful about Perl
basics in the future :)
Aaron Craig
Programming
iSoftitler.com
