Manifest constants using 'manifest' keyword?

[Bill Baxter]

Derek Parnell wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:01:08 +0200, Matti Niemenmaa wrote:
> 
>> Jérôme M. Berger wrote:
>>> Matti Niemenmaa wrote:
>>>> Derek Parnell wrote:
>>>>> Until one gets to know what it means, "manifest" looks like a noun
>>>>> rather than an adjective. I can just see newbies saying things like ...
>>>>> "what is a 'manifest'" when confronted with stuff like ...
>>>>>
>>>>> manifest 
>>>>> {
>>>>>    int Foo;
>>>>>    long Bar;
>>>>> }
>>>> Alright, I'll bite. What /is/ manifest meant to mean here?
>>> 	I'd bet for a compilation error ;)
>> That wasn't my point. I get the semantics, I want to understand what the word
>> itself means.
>>
>> "const" -> a constant, i.e. something you can't write to. Fine, though it's not
>> necessarily "constant" per se.
>> "manifest" -> a manifest constant. What's a manifest constant? A compile-time
>> constant. Why isn't it called "compiletime" then? What's with the word "manifest"?
> 
> The adjective 'manifest' in this context means "something whose purpose or
> meaning is self-evident". It is a fairly obscure usage of English and not
> many native-English speakers would use the term except in academic circles.
> It is certainly not in common usage by the average man-in-the-street.

I think it's more like these meanings (from dictionary.com)

6. a list of the cargo carried by a ship, made for the use of various 
agents and officials at the ports of destination.
7.	a list or invoice of goods transported by truck or train.
8.	a list of the cargo or passengers carried on an airplane.

I.e. it's something that's embedded in the executable as part of its 
"cargo".  At least I think that's where the terminology "manifest 
constant" comes from.

--bb