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----- Original Message -----

From: "Ed Jaffe" <edja...@phoenixsoftware.com> 
To: ASSEMBLER-LIST@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
Sent: Monday, March 3, 2014 11:33:02 AM 
Subject: Re: CamelCase 

On 3/3/2014 8:01 AM, John Gilmore wrote: 
> I don't use rhetoricons.  They're self-defeating.  The intent of the 
> comment Paul Schuster quotes was, however, whimsical.. 

MIXED CASE PROVIDES AN AUTHOR OR PROGRAMMER WITH ACCESS TO TWICE AS MANY 
GLYPHS AS UPPERCASE ONLY. AS JOHN EHRMAN POINTED OUT (WITH CITATIONS), 
STUDIES SHOW THAT READABILITY IS IMPROVED. COULD YOU IMAGINE READING A 
PAPERBACK NOVEL IN ALL UPPERCASE? IT WOULD BE VERY TIRING! FOCUSING 
EXCLUSIVELY ON PROGRAMMING, I PARTICULARLY LIKE THE WAY UPPERCASE 
CONTROL BLOCK ACRONYMS AND OTHER HEADINGS STAND OUT AMONG MIXED CASE 
COMMENTS. OF COURSE, I CONSIDER FREEDOM OF CHOICE TO BE A GOOD THING 
AND, FOR THIS REASON, I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THE EXISTENCE OF 
CASE-INSENSITIVE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES (LIKE HLASM) THAT ALLOW ANY CASE 
TO BE SPECIFIED BY THE PROGRAMMER, BASED ON PERSONAL PREFERENCE. SUCH 
LANGUAGES TAKE EXTRA "TROUBLE" TO INTERNALLY FOLD SYMBOLS TO UPPERCASE 
WHEN DOING HASH TABLE LOOKUPS OR OTHER COMPARISONS INVOLVING A SYMBOLIC 
NAME. PERSONALLY, WHEN I WRITE IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS, I FEEL LIKE I'M 
SHOUTING -- BUT MAYBE THAT'S JUST ME. IN ANY CASE (NO PUN INTENDED), I 
THINK IT WOULD BE A VALUABLE EXERCISE FOR FOLKS THAT ADAMANTLY PREFER 
UPPERCASE EXCLUSIVITY IN THEIR PROGRAMS TO SPEND A FEW WEEKS AUTHORING 
LETTERS, EMAIL, PROGRAMMING DOCUMENTATION, AND OTHER HUMAN-READABLE TEXT 
DOCUMENTS IN UPPERCASE TO SEE JUST HOW MUCH IS LOST... 

-- 
EDWARD E JAFFE 
PHOENIX SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL, INC 
831 PARKVIEW DRIVE NORTH 
EL SEGUNDO, CA 90245 
HTTP://WWW.PHOENIXSOFTWARE.COM/ 

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