In article <351F0121.40D9 at interaccess.com> joda at interaccess.com writes:
>Jerry Avins wrote:
>>>> Phil Roberts, Jr. wrote:
>> >
>> > Riddle (#2): Why is FORTH called FORTH?
>> >
>> > --
>> >
>> > Phil Roberts, Jr.
>> >
>> > Feelings of Worthlessness and So-Called Cognitive Science
>> > http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5476>>>> C is called C because it was intended to B, code that ran on the machine
>> used for development. Forth is called that because it came after
>> something like Third, and Moore's system couldn't take 6-character
>> names. If I'm so smart, how come I don't know why they named me
>> Jeremiah?
>>>>C was the sequel to B. There was ambiguity as to whether C's successor
>should be D, or another specific letter (Which letter, and why?).
>Because of that ambiguity, the successor was named C++, which signifies
>that successor, whichever it is :).
Well, sort of.
(The letter was, if I recall properly, P).
C++, however, wasn't supposed to be a successor to C -- it was just
a little hack job put atop C. The name is actually a geek-pun of classic
form, as C++ actually compiled to C, one could argue that the CC compiler
simply "incremented C and returns the old value".
-kitten
