2009/5/21 Jason Grout <jason-s...@creativetrax.com>: > > Referring to http://trac.sagemath.org/sage_trac/ticket/6094 ... > > I hope this isn't too much bikeshedding [1]... > > Suppose a function has several ways to do its calculation, and wants to > provide the user with a way to select between the different ways. > > What is the standard option name to select between the different ways? > > (a) my_function(algorithm='some way') > (b) my_function(method='some way') > (c) another option > (d) there is no standard; different functions use different option names. > > If (a) or (d) is the answer, might I suggest that using 'method' instead > of 'algorithm' is better because:
The answer is (a). I see no reason to change. Also, "method" is the standard programming term to refer to a member function of a class. Hence "algorithm" is much less ambiguous. William > > (1) it is easier to spell (which unfortunately makes a big difference > to some of our undergraduates!) > (2) it is easier to say > (3) it is shorter > (4) because of 1-3, it is easier to remember > > Of course, if using 'algorithm' is the long-set standard, then its > inertia may make this suggestion impractical. > > Thanks, > > Jason > > [1] http://www.bikeshed.com/ or > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_of_the_bikeshed > > -- > Jason Grout > > > > > -- William Stein Associate Professor of Mathematics University of Washington http://wstein.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-devel-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
