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Author Topic: "Java programming language" vs. "Java (programming language)"  (Read 2193 times)
Tom Morris
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« on: January 06, 2009, 04:47:12 PM »

Thoughts would be welcome on the comments I've made on Talk:Closure (computer science) and CZ Talk:Computers Workgroup.

I think it may be time we put together some site-wide naming guidelines.
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Howard C. Berkowitz
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« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2009, 05:04:22 PM »

Thoughts would be welcome on the comments I've made on Talk:Closure (computer science) and CZ Talk:Computers Workgroup.

I think it may be time we put together some site-wide naming guidelines.

Especially with some older terms, lots of redirects will be needed. While it's a general rule to use a full name and redirect on the acronym, there are times to break the rules and these may be among them. When I first found a good exception, it was a military one for MACV-SOG, whose last three letters had both a classiifed and an unclassified meaning.

Being too compulsive about that rule could lead to articles titled "Jules' Own Version of the International Algorithmic Language" and "Common Business-Oriented Language". There are also official, marketing, and common usages, such as "Programming Language One", PL/I, and PL/1.  Lots and lots of redirects.

Seriously, there won't always be a definitive version. One might accept the ISO or IETF name when a standard exists, but, if one argues the K&R book is the authoritative C reference, its title is "C Programming Language".

I find it annoying when some purists insist on initial-capital-only, for protocol names and such; I'll argue that Simple Network Management Protocol is a proper name. In fairness, I must quote Berkowitz's Rule of Computer Science Naming:  any facility, whose first word is "simple", is not.

Perhaps too U.S. centric, but I'd enjoy an article with the attributes of an IETF RFC dated April 1, explaining why the United States has no official language, its national anthem, written long before computers, challenges all listeners about fluency in a particular programming language at classical weird programmer hours.
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