[Tutor] Re:what is foo From Online Observations

[RASTM2 at aol.com]

> From: arkamir at softhome.net
> Subject: [Tutor] what is foo
> To: tutor at python.org
> Message-ID: <courier.3F3D1C47.00006211 at softhome.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> hey ive been reading several books about python lately and the \y all 
> included foo. Can someone please tell me what it is. Thanks 

Hello ARKAMIR, 

And that is the ultimate question.
What "is" foo?

Foo is sort of like a variable in a sentence or in an example.
A word to take the place of any word.
You just replace "foo" or "bar" or any of many such words with
the "real" words your going to use.

i.e.

>>> def foo(bar):

...          if bar:

...        print "foo means", bar

... 

>>> foo()

Traceback (most recent call last):
  
File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?

TypeError: foo() takes exactly 1 argument (0 given)


As you can see from the trace back, foo takes exactly one argument,
so if you don't give it a meaning, it will be meaningless.    ; )  


>>> foo('this')
          # give it a meaning and then
foo means this
        # it has a meaning
>>> 

Here's a couple good places to find out what "foo" is. 

>From Denis Howe's  Free On Line Dictionary Of Computing
<A HREF="http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?foo">http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?foo</A>

see especially also 
Eric S. Raymond's 
Jargon File<A HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/foo.html">
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/foo.html</A>


Hope this helps and you enjoy the reading.

Ray St. Marie
Rastm2 at users.sourceforge.net
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