From: William James <w_a_x_man@...>
Date: 2005-10-07T16:56:49+09:00
Subject: Re: Object Orientation


Dave Howell wrote:
> ....  It's regrettable (and generally a poor design choice) that
> case is significant, so you can't capitalize the initial character of
> methods or variables, but other than that, name them as you like.
>
> ++ warning: rant below ++
>
> [Why a poor design choice? Because except for certain specific enclaves
> in computer programming (e.g. Unix, but not Mac, not Windows, not DEC
> VAX, not BASIC, not Pascal, not REXX, and not Modula-2, to draw from
> personal experience), case isn't "significant." Including, oh, the
> entire rest of the world's written literature. Nobody thinks that Dave
> and DAVE and dave are three different people, or that a Ph.D is
> different from a  PH.D. Recipes can have Tbsp or tbsp, and on and on
> and on. You'd have to look long and hard, or find a Unix programmer, in
> order to find somebody who thought WordPerfect was spelled differently
> than Wordperfect, and e. e. cummings gets filed after Carter but before
> Dostoyevsky, not somewhere after the Z's. Capitalization is used for
> readability and convenience, but explicit meaning, especially
> identification, does not allow itself to change through mere
> capitalization; a message in all caps states the same things as one in
> all lower case (notwithstanding the possible *implicit* messages of
> emphasis). An italic R, a lower-case R, a cursive R, a bold R, a
> capital R: they are all the same letter, and functionally
> interchangeable. Except in a tiny minority of cases. Like Unix. And
> Ruby.]

Although case is not significant in Pascal, it is in Wirth's later
languages, Modula-2 and Oberon-2.  So apparently even the creator
of Pascal disagrees with you.