October, 2008

Overheard in CS 61

Tue, 2008-10-28 20:49 — Konstantin

“My proverbial grandmother could write that code.”

- Prof. Matt Welsh, discussing one of the simpler methods of heap free-list management.

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There's a good number of Hebrew words that have made their way, in one form or another, into mainstream usage among English speakers — words like leviathan, behemoth, sabbath, kosher, and so on.

Did you know that the term "pa`amayim nekudotayim" (פעמיים נקודתיים) also enjoys occasional use?

The programming language PHP, which was largely developed by an Israeli company, has a Scope Resolution Operator indicated by ::, that is, two colons ("twice two dots").

Programmers might occasionally see the error message

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM in file on line line

If you search online for paamayim nekudotayim, you'll come across numerous expressions of confusion, amusement, or complaint about the term's continued use in the PHP platform.

(My main complaint is that it really should have been transliterated as nekudatayim, but I'm not going to worry about it.)