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/
