Article View: comp.lang.misc
Article #3707Re: About the variable 'I' (was Re: long names (was Readability of Ada))
From: D. C. Sessions
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1991 17:09
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1991 17:09
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In article <1991Apr26.034205.27308@netcom.COM> mrs@netcom.COM (Morgan Schweers) writes: >Greetings, > Can someone confirm (preferably in a post, so my MBX doesn't flood) >the truth/falsity of FORTRAN being the starter of 'I' as a generic loop >variable? You have it backwards. Mathematicians have used 'i', 'j', 'k', etc. for 'index' expressions since Newton (or so). I have seen some *old* math texts from before Von Neuman was a freshman, and summations across a range indexed by 'i' are all over the place. FORTRAN just adopted the prevailing mathematical notation. Recall that In The Beginning (tm) almost all integer arithmetic was for array indexing and similar housekeeping, and the default of 'i'..'n' makes sense. -- | The above opinions may not be original, but they are mine and mine alone. | | "While it may not be for you to complete the task, | | neither are you free to refrain from it." | +-=-=- (I wish this _was_ original!) D. C. Sessions -=-=-+
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!crdgw1!uunet!sci34hub!sci!dc From: dc@sci.UUCP (D. C. Sessions) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc Subject: Re: About the variable 'I' (was Re: long names (was Readability of Ada)) Message-ID: <973@mgt3.sci.UUCP> Date: 29 Apr 91 17:09:20 GMT References: <3878@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP> <jls.672366979@rutabaga> <12394@dog.ee.lbl.gov> <1991Apr26.034205.27308@netcom.COM> Reply-To: dc@mgt3.sci.com (D. C. Sessions) Organization: SCI Technology, Inc., Huntsville, Al. Lines: 20