Dar Scott wrote:
I get the impressions that lots of folks use abbreviations.
I didn't realize this at first and in learning to use Revolution I
ending up abbreviating only two places (I think). I abbreviate
'char' and--since I have trouble remembering color properties--I
might sometimes use a color property that is an abbreviation. (My
abbreviation of 'char' has nothing to do with C.) Maybe I abbreviate
other places but don't know it. For me, 'card' and 'graphic' are
easier to read and type than 'cd' and 'grc'. I saw a 'grc' once in a
script and didn't know what it was.
I am curious. Is this so the text editor window can be narrower or
expressions longer? Is this kind of a club recognition signal? Is
this easier to type for those who use these. I suppose I could get
used to typing and reading them, so I don't want to make too big of a
deal about their being harder to read and type. What about scripts
delivered to a customer?
Abbreviations in xTalk go back to the mother tongue, HyperTalk.
Presumably abbreviations were implemented for the same benefit they
provide in natural language: They provide a convenient alternative
which makes writing more streamlined.
I started out using only a few ("bg" is an easy choice over
"background"), but a while back I was a one-armed typist for a year and
during that time every character was critical so I loved finding ways to
type as little as possible. Even though I've been typing "normally" for
many years since, I still love saving a few milliseconds -- and
thousands of lines later those savings add up.
Abbreviations are well documented in the Dictionary so I feel confident
using them liberally, even in code for clients and in published
libraries. Abbreviations are a useful feature of xTalks, and since
they have benefit for the user I see no harm and some good in helping
share awareness of the benefit of that feature.
Interestingly, the "abbreviated" token also has an abbreviated form:
"abbrev". :)
--
Richard Gaskin
Managing Editor, revJournal
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