Re: [boost] [operators] euclidean vs euclidian

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-08-06 10:55:11

on Sat Aug 02 2008, Daryle Walker <darylew-AT-hotmail.com> wrote:

> On Aug 1, 2008, at 10:59 AM, Michael Fawcett wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 10:17 AM, Hervé Brönnimann
>> <hervebronnimann_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>>> This is not related to fixed-point per se, but why did
>>> boost.operators
>>> choose the spelling euclidian instead of the more common euclidean?
>>> I did
>>> check the Merriam-Webster, and both spellings are accepted (to my
>>> surprise),
>>> but I believe that most mathematicians use Euclidean...
>>
>> I'm surprised too - I've never seen it spelled otherwise.  I checked
>> the APIs we're currently using and they all use Euclidean.  Google
>> pulls up 3,820,000 for euclidean, and 325,000 for euclidian (it also
>> says "Did you mean: euclidean").
>>
>> In Google Code Search it pulls up 44,600 for euclidean, and 7,000
>> for euclidian.
>
>
> I just picked the first proper adjective form I found in a book or web
> page.  (I think it was me; it was added via a change in <http://
> svn.boost.org/trac/boost/changeset/11813/trunk/boost/boost/
> operators.hpp> from both me and Helmut Zeisel, and I forgot who did
> what.  This is why checking in combined changes is bad, kids.)  This
> was 7 years ago, before Goggle got big (and I got a separate CVS/SVN
> account), and who looked for a web-consensus back then?

It should be easy enough to change the official name in the library and
leave an implementation under the old name for backward compatibility.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
BoostPro Computing
http://www.boostpro.com