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  3. How many people use fubar?

How many people use fubar?

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  • I Ian Darling

    It's a commonly used "metasyntactic variable" (see the Jargon File or dict.org). My own opinion is that it's not good style to use them in production code (for examples it is ok), and to an extent can suggest unclear thinking - much like using terms like doohickey and thingy do when describing something in physical terms. Of course, I've probably done it myself a few times, but I do tend to do things like "OrderValueTemp" instead of "Temp" :-) And I knew a guy who got up to temp47 before thinking he might have gone about the function the wrong way :laugh: -- Ian Darling

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    Ryan Binns
    wrote on last edited by
    #6

    Ian Darling wrote: And I knew a guy who got up to temp47 before thinking he might have gone about the function the wrong way Slow learner... :)

    Ryan

    "Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late" John Nichol "Point Of Impact"

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    • K keegan

      I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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      David Chamberlain
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      I never caught on to using fubar, foo, or bar in any combination. I guess it was too abstract to be of any help to me, but of course, that was its purpose. Use foo when you intentionally don't want to be specific about something. Now, it has become one of those fingernail-on-the-blackboard things for me, and I hate using it and really dislike even seeing it. You won't ever see it in anything I write. Dave "You can say that again." -- Dept. of Redundancy Dept.

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      • K keegan

        I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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        Ranjan Banerji
        wrote on last edited by
        #8

        I used to use it but stopped a long time ago. Now I dont even use temp as a variable name for the same reason I stopped using foo and bar. So much easier to name the variable so that another developer can actually tell what the hell is happening.

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        • K keegan

          I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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          Ryan Binns
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          I use variable names that make sense :) So I don't use foo or bar at all, unless my variable actually represents a bar... ;)

          Ryan

          "Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late" John Nichol "Point Of Impact"

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          • M Mike Zinni

            I use it here and there. I've also become accustomed to using 0xDEADDEAD and the likes throughout my embedded code. Anyone else having some fun with hex in their stuff? -Mike Zinni "No shit it's tough. If it wasn't, everybody and their sister would be an engineer and then you wouldn't have a job."

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            Mike Dimmick
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            Microsoft's eMbedded Visual C++ team clearly love it: The program '_blah_' has exited with code -1159943394 (0xBADCAB1E). :wtf: :squint: Ah, replace 1 with L... -- Mike Dimmick

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            • K keegan

              I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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              Rickard Andersson20
              wrote on last edited by
              #11

              keegan wrote: instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar I don't use foo or bar but I use dummy. Rickard Andersson Here is my card, contact me later! UIN: 50302279 E-Mail: nikado@pc.nu Interests: C++, ADO, SQL, Winsock, 0s and 1s

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              • R Rickard Andersson20

                keegan wrote: instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar I don't use foo or bar but I use dummy. Rickard Andersson Here is my card, contact me later! UIN: 50302279 E-Mail: nikado@pc.nu Interests: C++, ADO, SQL, Winsock, 0s and 1s

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                keegan
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                heh... string dummy; cout << "Enter your name..."; cin >> dummy; cout << "\nHello, " << dummy; *.* cin >> knowledge;

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                • K keegan

                  I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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                  Chris Losinger
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  i don't use foobar. i generally use "bob". it's easier to type than "foobar". -c CheeseWeasle

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                  • I Ian Darling

                    It's a commonly used "metasyntactic variable" (see the Jargon File or dict.org). My own opinion is that it's not good style to use them in production code (for examples it is ok), and to an extent can suggest unclear thinking - much like using terms like doohickey and thingy do when describing something in physical terms. Of course, I've probably done it myself a few times, but I do tend to do things like "OrderValueTemp" instead of "Temp" :-) And I knew a guy who got up to temp47 before thinking he might have gone about the function the wrong way :laugh: -- Ian Darling

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                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #14

                    Ian Darling wrote: temp47 Yikes - maintaining his code must have been fun :~ Paul ;)

                    That's better! It looks like radioactive waste now. - Ryan Binns

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                    • K keegan

                      I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

                      RaviBeeR Offline
                      RaviBeeR Offline
                      RaviBee
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      Are you talking about my product FooBar[^]? :) /ravi Let's put "civil" back in "civilization" Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com

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                      • K keegan

                        heh... string dummy; cout << "Enter your name..."; cin >> dummy; cout << "\nHello, " << dummy; *.* cin >> knowledge;

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                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        :-D Paul ;)

                        That's better! It looks like radioactive waste now. - Ryan Binns

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • K keegan

                          I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #17

                          I tend to come up with more descriptive names - pays dividends when I do maintenance :-D Paul ;)

                          That's better! It looks like radioactive waste now. - Ryan Binns

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                          • L Lost User

                            Ian Darling wrote: temp47 Yikes - maintaining his code must have been fun :~ Paul ;)

                            That's better! It looks like radioactive waste now. - Ryan Binns

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                            Ian Darling
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #18

                            Fortunately, it was when I was at uni, and he was in a different year to me :-D -- Ian Darling

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                            • K keegan

                              I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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                              Tom Archer
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              I do, but only in either testing something or in book code snippets. Cheers, Tom Archer Inside C#,
                              Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework

                              // Thanks to Atlantys
                              if (PostType == AnythingDistastful
                              || PostType == AnythingOld)
                              {
                              if ((rand() % 2) == 0)
                              { /* make fun of VB */ }
                              else
                              { /* make fun of COBOL */ }
                              }

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                              • RaviBeeR RaviBee

                                Are you talking about my product FooBar[^]? :) /ravi Let's put "civil" back in "civilization" Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com

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                                T Offline
                                Tom Archer
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                Impressive, Ravi. Congrats on the nice work. Cheers, Tom Archer Inside C#,
                                Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework

                                // Thanks to Atlantys
                                if (PostType == AnythingDistastful
                                || PostType == AnythingOld)
                                {
                                if ((rand() % 2) == 0)
                                { /* make fun of VB */ }
                                else
                                { /* make fun of COBOL */ }
                                }

                                RaviBeeR 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L Lost User

                                  I tend to come up with more descriptive names - pays dividends when I do maintenance :-D Paul ;)

                                  That's better! It looks like radioactive waste now. - Ryan Binns

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                                  Tom Archer
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #21

                                  Agreed. This point is exactly why when I consult for a company, I always preach the mantra "Code is read more than it is written". Cheers, Tom Archer Inside C#,
                                  Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework

                                  // Thanks to Atlantys
                                  if (PostType == AnythingDistastful
                                  || PostType == AnythingOld)
                                  {
                                  if ((rand() % 2) == 0)
                                  { /* make fun of VB */ }
                                  else
                                  { /* make fun of COBOL */ }
                                  }

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • K keegan

                                    I have a tendency to use the acronymn all the time in my code, instead of naming something 'temp' ill use foo or bar. I even saw foo used on a c++ test i took last year. Im just wondering how often professional programmers use it, if ever, or its just a little joke that people hint at but never use. the origin of fubar [^] *.* cin >> knowledge;

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                                    John M Drescher
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #22

                                    I never use either. I usually name variables using hungarian notation and selfdocumentation unless they are just iterators.. John

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                                    • I Ian Darling

                                      Fortunately, it was when I was at uni, and he was in a different year to me :-D -- Ian Darling

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                                      John M Drescher
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #23

                                      I see this kind of thing all the time in research...

                                      feature56 = feature34 + feature23;

                                      It does serve one unintended purpose. No one but the author could possiblly understand the code without months of study... John

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                                      • D David Chamberlain

                                        I never caught on to using fubar, foo, or bar in any combination. I guess it was too abstract to be of any help to me, but of course, that was its purpose. Use foo when you intentionally don't want to be specific about something. Now, it has become one of those fingernail-on-the-blackboard things for me, and I hate using it and really dislike even seeing it. You won't ever see it in anything I write. Dave "You can say that again." -- Dept. of Redundancy Dept.

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                                        T Offline
                                        Turtle Hand
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #24

                                        :rolleyes: a little tense about this. tell us how you really feel! ;) Josef Wainz Software Developer

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                                        • C Chris Losinger

                                          i don't use foobar. i generally use "bob". it's easier to type than "foobar". -c CheeseWeasle

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                                          T Offline
                                          Turtle Hand
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #25

                                          fred is the way to go. bob is reversible. but fred you'll never be confused which way to read the variable. i've been naming things fred for 15 years, go figure. Josef Wainz Software Developer

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