Why make a language case sensitive?

johngrayson at home.com.bbs johngrayson at home.com.bbs
Sat Jul 15 10:20:01 EDT 2000


In article <000c01bfedcf$3e316160$6cb745c6 at timaratz>,
  "Peter Timaratz" <timaratz at lisco.com> wrote:
> I thought there might be a reason why it needs to be case sensitive.
I guess
> if you come from a Unix background (which I don't) and you create a
> language, then it seems natural to make it case sensitive.
>
> I'm not trying to start a war, so I'll refrain from expressing my
opinion.
> :)
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: python-list-admin at python.org
> > [mailto:python-list-admin at python.org]On Behalf Of
richard_chamberlain
> > Sent: Friday, July 14, 2000 9:52 AM
> > To: python-list at python.org
> > Subject: Re: Why make a language case sensitive?
> >
> >
> > Hi Peter,
> >
> > That's a bit of a sore point at the moment :-)
> >
> > do a search on deja for case sensitive and you'll find a whole
argument on
> > the subject.
> >
> > Richard
> >
> > Peter Timaratz <timaratz at lisco.com> wrote in message
> > news:000801bfeda1$fcd99a20$6cb745c6 at timaratz...
> > > I can't think of any advantages to a case sensitive language.
> > Python is a
> > > very well-designed language though, so I imagine there is a good
reason
> > that
> > > it is case sensitive. So what are the advantages of a case
sensitive
> > > language?
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
> >
>
>

If you're used to C++ (or Python or Java), which don't have
to be Unix-based, then you quickly discover that a simple naming
convention in your code makes for easy (cheap) maintenance and
reuse...

e.g.

    MyClass ...             Class definition
    myClass ...             Instance of class (or other 'variable')
    MYCLASS ...             Constant (maybe an enumeration)

Then, within a class, instance or variable name, mixed case aids
readability:

    A = ...                            ? Old Basic  ;-)
    mainwindowframeborderwidth =  ...  Caseless language (or poor C++)
    mainWindowFrameBorderWidth =  ...  IMHO better

Take a look at example code for any of the major languages and I'm
sure that you'll spot a trend... Of course, if you're an assembler
programmer, then you probably don't care -- but even assemblers
can be case sensitive :-)


   John


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