[SOLVED] help resolve the "discussion" of coders naming of the "-" character
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so not in a math context, which i agree would be "minus" but in a coding context, like how the professor would reference that character in computer programming 101
Although if you're a programmer you're more likely to call it:
45 \055 %2D 0x2D 00101011
Which is it's ascii value in decimal, octal, html, hex, binary, ... ... ... And if you're a mainframe programmer you probably know it's ebcdic designation (0x60 / 96).
I would suggest that you decide among members of your discussion group the definitive term for use within the group. You cannot decide for others outside the group.
so not in a math context, which i agree would be "minus" but in a coding context, like how the professor would reference that character in computer programming 101
Having been a professor who taught courses one might call Computer Programming 101 (we called ours 103; not sure why), I always called it the minus sign. After all, it is adjacent to the plus sign.
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In the great scheme of things does really matter? If I say "dash", "hyphen" or "minus" you know what I'm refering to, and the context of the sentence should tell you if I'm using the term as a math term or somthing else.
The different names provide context about the use of the symbol.
a = b - c is a subtraction, so "minus".
version="0.1-alpha" is a string. so "dash".
line1="This is a long line that needs hyphenat-"
line2="ing to avoid truncation.", so "hyphen".
The symbol is often used as an empty value indicator in tables
value[1]=1
value[2]="-"
value[3]=3
If I say "dash", "hyphen" or "minus" you know what I'm refering to
not necessarily. those can be different characters on a computer.
if you want to make absolutely sure, in a verbal conversation, you should say 'minus'. i do.
I always say "minus", especially when describing arguments to shell commands, e.g. "minus minus version". I often have to explain Linux commands to people and I found that they understand the "minus" instantly whereas when I say "dash" or "hyphen" they often confuse it with some other character.
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