Whither Tango?

[Justin Johansson]

KennyTM~ wrote:
> On Feb 21, 10 10:04, Justin Johansson wrote:
>> Nick Sabalausky wrote:
>>>
>>>>> - std.random.dice (it is a discrete distribution...)
>>>> What's wrong with dice?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I like it, but I can definitely understand that some people might find
>>> its meaning too indirect. Maybe "std.random.discrete" or
>>> "std.random.even" or "std.random.regular" or somethingliek that?
>>>
>>
>> If cuteness in a word is at all a relevant factor in deciding upon
>> a name how about
>>
>> std.random.dip
>>
>> Justin's etymology of "dip":
>>
>> 1. Derived from "lucky dip", meaning to draw an item (often a prize)
>> randomly from a container (often a barrel at a fair or carnival).
>>
>> 2. Derived by contraction of serendipity or serendipitous.
>>
>> The idea of generating a "serendipitous number" as opposed to generating
>> (just a) PORN (Plain Old Random Number) by all measures has got to be
>> cute. Just so happens, serendipitous in fact, that "serendipitous" is
>> one of my favorite words. It's also a pure fluke that the acronym for
>> Plain Old Random Number turns out be what it is .. I was thinking of
>> Plain Old Java Object POJO when that came to mind. :-)
>>
>>
>> See also (the first link is quite an interesting read)
>>
>> http://serendipity.ruwenzori.net/index.php/2006/12/03/seredipitous-etymology 
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Serendipity
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Justin Johansson
> 
> I think any function names that needs to tell user a story or dictionary 
> definition before knowing why it is chosen is a bad name.

Sorry; I didn't mean this "suggestion" to be taken too seriously; just
a little (possibly lame) humour and an ultra-subtle parody on
choosing library names based upon their cuteness factor or how much
they "rock".

I couldn't agree more that the meaning of function names should be
self-evident (at least to a reasonable degreee) without having to
consult a dictionary.

For me, Norbert Nemec pretty much sums it up in his spin-off
thread "Design of intuitive interfaces".