Quoting Jason Orendorff <jason.orendorff_at_gmail.com>:
> Does anyone else feel a little weird about the phrase "the unspecified
> value"?
>
> "Unspecified" is very often used in programming language
> specifications as an adjective with a particular meaning. R5.91RS
> still uses it in that sense, but it also uses it in the phrase "the
> unspecified value", which refers to a particular value. I don't think
> the two meanings sit well together in the same document.
>
> For example, on page 81 of R5.91RS, we see "For all other readers, the
> result is an unspecified value." By this time I'm so used to reading
> "the unspecified value" that I have to wonder if this is a typo. As
> it turns out, it's not--which I hope proves my point. The amount of
> weight the word "an" has to carry in this sentence is a signal that
> something is wrong.
>
> Suppose someone tells you that "all the graphics routines return
> unspecified". What exactly does he mean?
Yes, there is two possible interpertation, but I think everyone can figour out
which one the author actually means.
> In fact, the definite article "the" and the adjective "unspecified"
> are so thoroughly at odds that "the unspecified value" sounds like
> broken English if you're not already in the clique.
>
> I would rather have two separate terms. "Unspecified" can retain its
> usual meaning. For the unspecified value, we can use "void" or
> something else.
I think THE "unspecified" value is a good thing. PLT has "undefined" value,
which I do use in my program. PLT doesn't provide a direct way to get the
"undefined" value, so I'm glad to see the "unspecified" value given explicitly
in R6RS. For your question, what about to use "undefined" instead of
"unspecified" when we mean THE value, and keep "unspecified" as what it means
in R5RS?
> -j
>
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Chongkai
Received on Wed Sep 20 2006 - 19:08:38 UTC