On Thu, 3 Feb 2000, Miranda Pearce wrote:
> Yes, foo is a generic placeholder name. Check out this explanation from
> whatis.com:
>
> http://www.whatis.com/foo.htm
Some may consider this off-topic, but some may say that "foo" is
relevant to all computer-related topics :-).
I think the above explanation is incomplete. I realize that it's not
necessarily 100% agreed upon as to where foo came from, but what I
have heard is more along these lines.
Note that another "placecholder"/"nonsense syllable" commonly used in
computer circles is "bar", and that in fact you'll often see "foo" and
"bar" used together. The story goes that they are derived from an old
military term "fubar" which stands for "fucked up beyond all
repair/recognition" (similar to "snafu" which stands for "situation
normal, all fucked up"). At some point, "fubar" became "foo" and
"bar".
FWIW, the first place I came across the usage of "foo" and "bar" (and
their cousin, "baz", but don't ask me how that fits into the picture :-)
was in my articifical intelligence courses in grad school.
Take it for what you will :-).
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arnaud D [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2000 2:28 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: <dumb question ?> What is Foo ??
>
>
> What is the term Foo ???
> I see it all over the place, in most examples : setFoo() getFoo(), Foo.class
> , import java.foo.* ??
>
> Is it a generic term used in examples like someone would say MyClass or
> myMethod ?
> Or am I just passing next to a very important concept ??
>
> This might be a stupid question, but hey, like you never said anything dumb
> !!
>
> Thanx for answering me, not knowing won't make me a worse programmer (?) nor
> an insomniac, but i don't want to die ignoring this!
>
> Regards, Arnaud D
>
Milt Epstein
Research Programmer
Software/Systems Development Group
Computing and Communications Services Office (CCSO)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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