Re: Case Sensitivity

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Article #4322

#4322

From: Dick Karpinski
Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1988 23:09

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In article <INFO-M2%88070811432229@DB0TUI11> Info-Modula2 Distribution List <INFO-M2%UCF1VM.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu> writes:
>what's the trick/clue/gag behind case sensitivity in M2? No one could
>ever tell me.

When I asked Niklaus Wirth about it, he said he has always preferred
case sensitivity.  My sense is that, like me, he prefers that the
writer rather than the reader should suffer the details.  He and I
both feel that creating names which differ in case alone is a bad
idea, since it is potentially confusing to the reader.  If, as well,
the compiler enforces case matching, then the reader can operate on
the simple rule that if it looks different, it is different.

In the bad old days, a single case was all the CDC would take, or
at least all that you could conveniently _punch_ on _cards_.

Dick

Dick Karpinski  Manager of Minicomputer Services, UCSF Computer Center
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf.edu!ccb.ucsf.edu!dick
From: dick@ccb.ucsf.edu (Dick Karpinski)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2
Subject: Re: Case Sensitivity
Summary: Niklaus likes it.
Message-ID: <1303@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu>
Date: 8 Jul 88 23:09:14 GMT
References: <INFO-M2%88070811432229@DB0TUI11>
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Organization: UCSF Computer Center
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