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  3. Why String?

Why String?

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  • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

    C'mon, cut him some slack.

    The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

    A Offline
    A Offline
    AspDotNetDev
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    Thanks, I can't get tied up at the moment.

    Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

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    • A AspDotNetDev

      I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

      Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

      F Offline
      F Offline
      Fernando A Gomez F
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      I once read in a book, which was about learning C programming, that the name string was chosen because in C there is no text data type, but an array of characters. An array could be seen as a "chain" of characters, or a "string" of characters (one right after the other). In Spanish, by the way, the name is "cadena de caracteres" which translates to "character chain" rather than string. Don't know if this is true though.

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      • A AspDotNetDev

        I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

        Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

        P Offline
        P Offline
        Peter_in_2780
        wrote on last edited by
        #15

        Because you could never tell how long it is. Cheers ;P Peter

        Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994.

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        • A AspDotNetDev

          I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

          Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

          J Offline
          J Offline
          Jason Hooper
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          Because even the best C programmers end up hanging themselves with them at some point in time.

          Jason

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          • A AspDotNetDev

            I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

            Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

            P Offline
            P Offline
            PIEBALDconsult
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            AspDotNetDev wrote:

            they are strings/sequences of digits

            No they're not -- unless you use ToString.

            AspDotNetDev wrote:

            Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

            Because in BASIC they are designated by a $ which is a lot like an S and they who use BASIC are hard to teach.

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            • R Roger Wright

              I think it's an unconscious desire to return to the good old days of BASIC where a variable was identified as containing text characters by using the suffix $. The art of programming has never recovered from the damage done by constructs like, >10 DATA "MY", "TEXT", "DATA" >20 READ A$, B$, C$ >30 LPRINT A$, B$, C$ >50 GOTO 10 >9999 END >RUN Back in the day, A$ was even pronounced, "A-string." :-D

              Will Rogers never met me.

              M Offline
              M Offline
              Mike Hankey
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

              Oh my eyes.....noooooooooooo

              VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
              Version 3.0 now available. There is no place like 127.0.0.1

              R 1 Reply Last reply
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              • A AspDotNetDev

                Sounds like quite the yarn. :)

                Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                Hope I pulled the wool over your eyes ;)

                MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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                • A AspDotNetDev

                  I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                  Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                  A Offline
                  A Offline
                  Amarnath S
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

                  My first acquaintance with "strings" was in the pre-computer days (early eighties, in India - there were no or very very few computers then; the nearest one was a Casio calculator), when we did physics experiments with standing waves or stationary waves. We had to find nodes, also called stationary points. So, when I had to first program with strings using MFC, it took some time to unlearn the wave part, and get used to strings within quotes.

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                  • R Roger Wright

                    I think it's an unconscious desire to return to the good old days of BASIC where a variable was identified as containing text characters by using the suffix $. The art of programming has never recovered from the damage done by constructs like, >10 DATA "MY", "TEXT", "DATA" >20 READ A$, B$, C$ >30 LPRINT A$, B$, C$ >50 GOTO 10 >9999 END >RUN Back in the day, A$ was even pronounced, "A-string." :-D

                    Will Rogers never met me.

                    Steve EcholsS Offline
                    Steve EcholsS Offline
                    Steve Echols
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

                    It's like inverted PHP! My eyes!! :)


                    - S 50 cups of coffee and you know it's on! Code, follow, or get out of the way.

                    • S
                      50 cups of coffee and you know it's on!
                      Code, follow, or get out of the way.
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                    • A AspDotNetDev

                      I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                      Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      Shao Voon Wong
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      It is according to the Grand Unified Theory of Programming, a string can store all the values of any plain old data(POD)! Also known as the String Theory of programming. This is why text type is known as string!

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                      • M Mike Hankey

                        Oh my eyes.....noooooooooooo

                        VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
                        Version 3.0 now available. There is no place like 127.0.0.1

                        R Offline
                        R Offline
                        Roger Wright
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        Here, this[^] may help...

                        Will Rogers never met me.

                        M S 2 Replies Last reply
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                        • R Roger Wright

                          I think it's an unconscious desire to return to the good old days of BASIC where a variable was identified as containing text characters by using the suffix $. The art of programming has never recovered from the damage done by constructs like, >10 DATA "MY", "TEXT", "DATA" >20 READ A$, B$, C$ >30 LPRINT A$, B$, C$ >50 GOTO 10 >9999 END >RUN Back in the day, A$ was even pronounced, "A-string." :-D

                          Will Rogers never met me.

                          P Offline
                          P Offline
                          peterchen
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          I feel toddler bliss again!

                          FILETIME to time_t
                          | FoldWithUs! | sighist | WhoIncludes - Analyzing C++ include file hierarchy

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                          • A AspDotNetDev

                            I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                            Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                            J Offline
                            J Offline
                            Jorgen Andersson
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #25

                            The first computers used quipus[^] as storage media.

                            Light moves faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak. List of common misconceptions

                            1 Reply Last reply
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                            • A AspDotNetDev

                              I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                              Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                              V Offline
                              V Offline
                              V 0
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              I use it because it reminds me of something else[^]...

                              V.

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                              • A AspDotNetDev

                                I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                                Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                                C Offline
                                C Offline
                                CPallini
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                Please don't add complexity to complexity. At the moment I'm puzzled by a man who calls himself 'AspDotNetDev'. :rolleyes:

                                Veni, vidi, vici.

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                                • A AspDotNetDev

                                  I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                                  Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Mark_Wallace
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  Because by the time you've got through:

                                  Dim A as String
                                  A = "M"
                                  A = A & "a"
                                  A = A & "r"
                                  A = A & "i"
                                  A = A & "j"
                                  A = A & "u"
                                  A = A & "a"
                                  A = A & "n"
                                  A = A & "a"

                                  You're strung out.

                                  I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • A AspDotNetDev

                                    I was just thinking that it seems a bit odd that "string" is so commonly used by programmers to refer to some text. I would think "text" would be more appropriate. If we are using "string" just because it refers to a string of characters (aka, a sequence of characters), then why not also call numbers "strings" (as they are strings/sequences of digits and some other characters)? Any theories as to why "string" prevailed?

                                    Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

                                    R Offline
                                    R Offline
                                    Rob Grainger
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    Wikipedia[^] tldr; A string is a mathematical concept - a string of "things". In computer science, these "things" are usually characters, so common usage has led to the situation that confused you.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • R Roger Wright

                                      I think it's an unconscious desire to return to the good old days of BASIC where a variable was identified as containing text characters by using the suffix $. The art of programming has never recovered from the damage done by constructs like, >10 DATA "MY", "TEXT", "DATA" >20 READ A$, B$, C$ >30 LPRINT A$, B$, C$ >50 GOTO 10 >9999 END >RUN Back in the day, A$ was even pronounced, "A-string." :-D

                                      Will Rogers never met me.

                                      M Offline
                                      M Offline
                                      Michael Kingsford Gray
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      'Back in the day, A$ was even pronounced, "A-string."' Absolute intercoursing-bullshit.

                                      D M 2 Replies Last reply
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                                      • M Michael Kingsford Gray

                                        'Back in the day, A$ was even pronounced, "A-string."' Absolute intercoursing-bullshit.

                                        D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        DerekT P
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        Everybody every programmer I knew pronounced it that way. Even professional Fortran and Cobol programmers recognised the convention from their early Basic days. (Who didn't learn programming via Basic?)

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                                        • D DerekT P

                                          Everybody every programmer I knew pronounced it that way. Even professional Fortran and Cobol programmers recognised the convention from their early Basic days. (Who didn't learn programming via Basic?)

                                          M Offline
                                          M Offline
                                          Michael Kingsford Gray
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          I did not learn programming from BASIC, for one. As it has not been invented when I learned programming. Is that a valid answer? I accept your correction that you are not aware of any BASIC programmer who did not pronounce it "that way". But that is not my lookout. I began with FORTRAN, an a CDC6600. I subsequently learned BASIC from its inception, and made a large portion of my long professional career from programming in it. But, I have NEVER heard of this vocalisation until you raised it. I have been a professional FORTRAN programmer since 1973, and a COBOL programmer since 1975. Yet I do not recognise this so-called 'convention' in one fraction of an iota. Not with me, nor any of my compartriates. Strange, that. I still call "bovine faeces".

                                          D P 2 Replies Last reply
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