Manifest constants (was const again)

["Jérôme M. Berger"]

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Denton Cockburn wrote:
> On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 11:55:47 +0100, Jérôme M. Berger wrote:
> 
>>> A list of one is still a list.
>> 	Ask any one who is not a mathematician and he will tell you that
>> you need at least two elements in a list. Moreover, even if there is
>> only one element in the list at this particular time, there is still the
>> implication that there could be others.
> 
> No, you don't need two elements in a list.
> That's just crazy talk.
> 
	You're a programmer, so you're a kind of specialized mathematician.
Try to ask any one who *isn't* (they will be much closer to the
*intuitive* meaning of the word) and see if they agree. (BTW, the
dictionary says that a list is a "set of things [...]" note the
plural form of "things"). I agree that from a strict mathematical
point of view, a list may contain only one element (or even zero)
but from an *intuitive* point of view it has several.

> enum would still fit what you're saying, here:
> 
> enum x = 5; // one element in this 'list'
	Even you put quotes around 'list' which shows that it's at best a
degenerate list, not a true one. Even when you put only one element
in a "list", there is still the *implication* that you will add
others at a later time.

> enum {
>   x = 5;
>   y = 7;  // now we've got 2
> }


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+------------------------- Jerome M. BERGER ---------------------+
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