[boost] Re: Namespace for boost integers

From: Reid Sweatman (reids_at_[hidden])
Date: 1999-08-18 14:11:20

> 1. If the namespace is at the same scope as the file (i.e. 
> all items in
> the file are within the namespace), and the file has a simple english
> name, the namespace should use the same name as the file.
> 
> 2. Otherwise (the namespace scope differs from the file's scope or the
> file has a cryptic name (like cstdint)), an appropriate simple english
> name will be chosen for the namespace.
> 
> A correpsonding (yet-unwritten, AFAIK), boost rule would be to always
> use simple english names for header files, unless there is a 
> compelling
> reason not to, as in the case of cstdint.

While I'm not an English bigot, I'm all for such a naming convention.
There's nothing I hate more than cryptic naming conventions (and yet I use
Hungarian notation <g>), or especially names that seem non-hermeneutic, but
really don't contain what the name implies.  BTW, I guess I *am* something
of an English bigot,in the sense that Europeans, Japanese, and whoever seem
to study English as a matter of routine, whereas native English-speakers,
and especially Americans (both of which I am, so no flames, please), don't
usually know *any* second language.

I suppose it would be possible to create a quickie PERL script to translate
most of a template file into another language using a simple custom
dictionary lookup, but I ain'ta seriously perposin' any sech thing,
y'unnerstand (from which one might gather from what geographic location
within the US I hail <g>).  Y'all.

BTW, that sort of reminds me of a piece of obfuscated C I once saw, probably
in Dr. Dobbs or the C/C++ Users Journal, in which the little snatch of
(working) code used only keywords, taking advantage of the language's
case-sensitivity to define variables with names like "If," "Then," "Else,"
and so one.  I can't recall the exact code, but it had something of this
flavor:

        if(If) then Then = If; else Else = If;

Which just goes to show what you can do when all the code is in plain
English (or any other language) <g>.