MC,
Whatever happened to good ole' x, y and z???
Anywho, I am quite certain of the military origin of "FUBAR" and "SNAFU", but leave it
to softwarians to expropriate the former term, change the spelling to FOOBAR, then
divide it into the now legendary FOO and BAR. Who knows, maybe Grace Hopper (of USN,
FORTRAN, and ENIAC fame) first forked FOOBAR into FOO | BAR???
Cheers,
Fred Woolsey
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tue 1/21/2003 7:10 PM
To: Woolsey, Fred
Cc:
Subject: RE: [PHP-WIN] Who is foo & what is bar?
I think a few of you are slightly off (or perhaps I am about to be). I
learned a while back that 'foo' and 'bar' are not just terms in
programming, but in general science where variables are concerned.
Suppose, for example, you are trying to define this awesome formula for
perpetual motion, and in your research you have to explain a function to
your colleagues. In order to keep the level of confusion low, you would
use the terms 'foo' and 'bar' to illustrate instances, variables,
etcetera, and your audience would also understand that you are referring
to such instances in a hypothetical manner, rather than realistically.
In other words, if you mention 'foo' and 'bar' in a conversation, your
listener would assume a hypothetical instance of whatever you subject
may be.
Or something to that effect...
Matthew Clark
Divergent Systems Incorporated
-----Original Message-----
From: Woolsey, Fred [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 5:59 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [PHP-WIN] Who is foo & what is bar?
I'm pretty certain it is one of those brilliant, sarcastic military
acronymns like SNAFU (situation normal, all f@#$%d up), as alluded to by
Mikey- however, I believe the correct meaning is f@#$%d up beyond all
repair. Witness the following hypothetical exchanges:
"So soldier, what's the sitrep?"
"SNAFU, sir..."
and
"How bad is it, soldier?"
"Well sir, I'm afraid it's FUBAR..."
Phonetically, FUBAR was simplified to FOOBAR, which allowed it to be
parsed into FOO and BAR by standard software :-{)>
Cheers,
Fred Woolsey
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Kranz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tue 1/21/2003 8:35 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc:
Subject: RE: [PHP-WIN] Who is foo & what is bar?
Hehe!!!
It's one of those classic terms that spans across many languages
and
dates back quite a long time. Whenever I pickup a programming
book,
somewhere in there, you'll find the infamous foo and bar...
chris kranz
fatcuban.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Mikey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 1:32 PM
To: Uttam; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [PHP-WIN] Who is foo & what is bar?
Just my opinion, but I think it comes from the acronym FUBAR -
f@cked up
beyond all recognition...
Mikey
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Uttam [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: 21 January 2003 13:29
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [PHP-WIN] Who is foo & what is bar?
>
>
> In many code examples in PHP documention (& others also), I
have seen
> authors referring to variables 'foo' & 'bar', but I have yet
not
> discovered
> the origin of these names. I am sure there must be dozens of
others
who
> have the curiosity to find how the use of these names started.
>
> Can anyone quench the curiosities please?
>
> regards,
>
>
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>
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