On 02/11/11 19:36, Daniel Gibson wrote: > Am 12.02.2011 02:25, schrieb bearophile: >> Michel Fortin: >> >>> No one noticed yet that the a..b:c syntax causes ambiguity? Tell me, >>> how do you rewrite this using the new proposed syntax: >>> >>> auto aa = [iota(a, b, c): 1, iota(d, e): 2]; >> >> Right, that's why in another post I have said that syntax replaces most iota >> usages. There are some situations where you can't use it well. This is >> another situation I've shown in the enhancement request: >> iota(10.,20.) >> Writing it like this is not sane: >> 10...20. >> >> >>> Interval is clear only as long as there's no step value mentioned. >>> Having a step value is quite a stretch from the usual notion of an >>> interval. >> >> Right, but I think it's acceptable still, and better than iota. >> >> >>> I like a lot so's suggestion "walk". I'm not sure it's much clearer >>> than iota though. >> >> It's better than iota, but not by much. >> >> Bye, >> bearophile > > I think it's much better. Even having "steps" (or a stepsize) is obvious with > walk. > > iota only makes sense when you know this from other languages/libraries or if > your native spoken language has a similar word that can be somehow connected. > http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/iota doesn't give a real connection (and two > English->German dictionaries I've checked don't either - one only listed iota > as > the greek letter, the other had mentions about something tiny) - it's just > something small like that greek i-without-a-dot letter. > There's nothing that connects it to a range of values with a fixed step size. > > Cheers, > - Daniel
We have a related usage around here, but it's probably a local thing (western Kentucky). I grew up hearing "iota" as a word for the shortest/smallest distance/difference between two things, or (indirectly) the frequency of a thing. Not really an argument in favor of the name, mind you; but the usage had to originate from *somewhere* and so I submit that it has probably never been "official" but yet common at various times and places. -- Chris N-S
