Re: [boost] Naming convention of iterated binary operation

Subject: Re: [boost] Naming convention of iterated binary operation
From: Louis Dionne (ldionne.2_at_[hidden])
Date: 2016-05-02 13:50:09

Dear list entities,

> is there such a convention or precedent for naming an iterated binary
> operation?
> 
> For example, Boost.Functional/Hash has an iterated hash() called
> hash_range(). I don't mind the "_range" suffix but I prefer the
> "iterated_"
> prefix based on the mathematical definition:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iterated_binary_operation

FWIW, and you might already know that, but the functions F_l and F_r in the
Wikipedia article you linked are sometimes called

    F_l: fold_left
         foldl      
         fold       
         accumulate 

    F_r: fold_right
         foldr
         reverse_fold

This is probably a personal bias from mathematics, but using the iterated_
prefix makes me think that it could be this kind of iteration

    hash(hash(hash(hash(x))))

Of course the above makes no sense for a binary operation, but this is what
the name alone means to me.

Bottom line: I don't think there's a convention, and if there's one, it's 
not well known. Good luck, naming is hard :-)

Louis

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