globals

[Richard Gaskin]

Dar Scott wrote:

> 
> On Tuesday, August 27, 2002, at 10:21 AM, Richard Gaskin wrote:
> 
>> It may
>> have been less confusing if MC had adopted a new "static" keyword
>> to reflect
>> this very different type of declaration.
> 
> I don't think this word is meaningful to most people.  And many
> programmers may have forgotten the computer science meaning.
> 
> I like local.  Local to a script or local to a handler.

But when we refer to a local var in an explanation or converationally,
clarity requires a whole sentence rather than just two syllables (
"no, not that kind of local...").

I understand the thinking behind using that one word for two different
things.  But as with English homonyms, they slow learning.  "static" may not
be ideal but any word will require learning; the core question is how to
make that learning as simple as possible (e.g., how many times do we need to
explain that "destroyStack" does not destroy the stack file? <g>).

-- 
 Richard Gaskin 
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