Hi all, In the recent past, I've noticed that several participants of this list have asked about the meaning / background / derivation of the commonly used variable: $foo.
Now, those making this inquiry have had a more than reasonable basis for their confusion. Other than being just a variable, '$foo' does have a subtle, underlying meaning which usually requires a background in American culture to fully appreciate. These questioners are of a group which usually share two attributes: 1) they're new to Perl -- or even new to programming in general -- and, 2) are often non-native English speakers. Their interest in Perl is why we're all here, of course, but their ability to both interact *and* make themselves generally understood by us native English speakers is the truly astounding (and humbling) part. With that in mind, I'd like to offer some perspective, or insight, in the way of a true story, to those of us who are native English speakers and who do have a programming background, but who may be puzzled by this seemingly simplistic question. Way back in the olden days, I took my first, college-level, computer programming course, Introduction to FORTRAN. To understand just how 'way back' it was, I have to confess that our first class quiz was on the Hollorith code. Now, for the younger folks reading this, I should explain that the Hollorith code is what was used to encode the holes found in those infamous punch cards you've all seen in museums. My sense of perspective on the use of '$foo' and its being a sometimes difficult cultural concept comes from what happened to me right after I completed and handed in that first quiz paper. After the class, I walked out with a classmate who had a very worried look on his face. My classmate was from Columbia and, while his second language was an excellent spoken English, his native language was Spanish and his cultural background was, of course, Latin American. We were comparing answers we'd given on the quiz when he asked me about the very last question. It had to do with decoding a simple string of Hollorith code. We compared each of the six characters we'd decoded and decided that our answers were correct as we'd both come up with the same string. I was happy. We'd gotten the 'right' answer and we'd both 'aced' the quiz. But, while I was happy, he still looked worried. "But, friend John," he asked, "I know how the Hollorith code works, but what is a 'PHOOEY'?" It turns out that while he was a great student, he still had much to appreciate about the humor <?> of some American college professors. I learned then, and am reminded by $foo now, that cultural context can mean a lot in learning a new computer language. John-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
