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= C =
Cn.
1. The third letter of the English alphabet. 2. ASCII 1000011. 3. The name of a programming language designed by Dennis Ritchie during the early 1970s and immediately used to reimplementUnix; so called because many features derived from an earlier compiler named `B' in commemoration ofitsparent, BCPL. (BCPL was in turn descended from an earlier Algol-derived language, CPL.) Before Bjarne Stroustrup settled the question by designingC++, there was a humorous debate over whether C's successor should be named `D' or `P'. C became immensely popular outside Bell Labs after about 1980 and is now the dominant language in systems and microcomputer applications programming. See alsolanguages of choice,indent style.
C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain varying according to the speaker, as "a language that combines all the elegance and power of assembly language with all the readability and maintainability of assembly language".
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C Programmer's Disease
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C&C
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C
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= C =
C Programmer's Diseasen.
The tendency of the undisciplined C programmer to set arbitrary but supposedly generous static limits on table sizes (defined, if you're lucky, by constants in header files) rather than taking the trouble to do proper dynamic storage allocation. If an application user later needs to put 68 elements into a table of size 50, the afflicted programmer reasons that he or she can easily reset the table size to 68 (or even as much as 70, to allow for future expansion) and recompile. This gives the programmer the comfortable feeling of having made the effort to satisfy the user's (unreasonable) demands, and often affords the user multiple opportunities to explore the marvelous consequences offandango on core. In severe cases of the disease, the programmer cannot comprehend why each fix of this kind seems only to further disgruntle the user.
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C&C
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C++
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C Programmer's Disease
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= C =
C&C//
[common, esp. onnews.admin.net-abuse.email] Contraction of "Coffee & Cats". This frequently occurs as a warning label on USENET posts that are likely to cause you tosnarfcoffee onto your keyboard and startle the cat off your lap.
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C++
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calculator
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C++/C'-pluhs-pluhs/ n.
Designed by Bjarne Stroustrup of AT&T Bell Labs as a successor toC. Now one of thelanguages of choice, although many hackers still grumble that it is the successor to either Algol 68 orAda(depending on generation), and a prime example ofsecond-system effect. Almost anything that can be done in any language can be done in C++, but it requires alanguage lawyerto know what is and what is not legal-- the design isalmosttoo large to hold in even hackers' heads. Much of thecruftresults from C++'s attempt to be backward compatible with C. Stroustrup himself has said in his retrospective book "The Design and Evolution of C++" (p. 207), "Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out." [Many hackers would now add "Yes, and it's calledJava" --ESR]
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calculator
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Camel Book
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C++
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calculator[Cambridge] n.
Syn. forbitty box.
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Camel Book
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can
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calculator
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Camel Bookn.
Universally recognized nickname for the book "Programming Perl", by Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly and Associates 1991, ISBN 0-937175-64-1 (second edition 1996, ISBN 1-56592-149-6). The definitive reference onPerl.
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can
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can't happen
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Camel Book
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canvt.
To abort a job on a time-sharing system. Used esp. when the person doing the deed is an operator, as in "canned from theconsole". Frequently used in an imperative sense, as in "Can that print job, the LPT just popped a sprocket!" Synonymous withgun. It is said that the ASCII character with mnemonic CAN (0011000) was used as a kill-job character on some early OSes. Alternatively, this term may derive from mainstream slang `canned' for being laid off or fired.
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can't happen
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cancelbot
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can
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can't happen
The traditional program comment for code executed under a condition that should never be true, for example a file size computed as negative. Often, such a condition being true indicates data corruption or a faulty algorithm; it is almost always handled by emitting a fatal error message and terminating or crashing, since there is little else that can be done. Some case variant of "can't happen" is also often the text emitted if the `impossible' error actually happens! Although "can't happen" events are genuinely infrequent in production code, programmers wise enough to check for them habitually are often surprised at how frequently they are triggered during development and how many headaches checking for them turns out to head off. See alsofirewall code(sense 2).
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cancelbot
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Cancelmoose[tm]
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cancelbot/kan'sel-bot/
[Usenet: compound, cancel + robot] 1. Mythically, arobocanceller2. In reality, most cancelbots are manually operated by being fed lists of spam message IDs.
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Cancelmoose[tm]
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candygrammar
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Cancelmoose[tm]/kan'sel-moos/
[Usenet] The archetype and model of all goodspam-fighters. Once upon a time, the 'Moose would send out spam-cancels and then post notice anonymously tonews.admin.policy,news.admin.misc, andalt.current-events.net-abuse. The 'Moose stepped to the fore on its own initiative, at a time (mid-1994) when spam-cancels were irregular and disorganized, and behaved altogether admirably - fair, even-handed, and quick to respond to comments and criticism, all without self-aggrandizement or martyrdom. Cancelmoose[tm] quickly gained near-unanimous support from the readership of all three above-mentioned groups.
Nobody knows who Cancelmoose[tm] really is, and there aren't even any good rumors. However, the 'Moose now has an e-mail address (moose@cm.org) and a web site (http://www.cm.org.)
By early 1995, others had stepped into the spam-cancel business, and appeared to be comporting themselves well, after the 'Moose's manner. The 'Moose has now gotten out of the business, and is more interested in ending spam (and cancels) entirely.
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candygrammar
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canonical
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candygrammarn.
A programming-language grammar that is mostlysyntactic sugar; the term is also a play on `candygram'.COBOL, Apple's Hypertalk language, and a lot of the so-called `4GL' database languages share this property. The usual intent of such designs is that they be as English-like as possible, on the theory that they will then be easier for unskilled people to program. This intention comes to grief on the reality that syntax isn't what makes programming hard; it's the mental effort and organization required to specify an algorithm precisely that costs. Thus the invariable result is that `candygrammar' languages are just as difficult to program in as terser ones, and far more painful for the experienced hacker.
[The overtones from the old Chevy Chase skit on Saturday Night Live should not be overlooked. This was a "Jaws" parody. Someone lurking outside an apartment door tries all kinds of bogus ways to get the occupant to open up, while ominous music plays in the background. The last attempt is a half-hearted "Candygram!" When the door is opened, a shark bursts in and chomps the poor occupant. [There is a similar gag in "Blazing Saddles" --ESR] There is a moral here for those attracted to candygrammars. Note that, in many circles, pretty much the same ones who remember Monty Python sketches, all it takes is the word "Candygram!", suitably timed, to get people rolling on the floor. -- GLS]
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canonical
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card walloper
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canonicaladj.
[very common; historically, `according to religious law'] The usual or standard state or manner of something. This word has a somewhat more technical meaning in mathematics. Two formulas such as 9 + x and x + 9 are said to be equivalent because they mean the same thing, but the second one is in `canonical form' because it is written in the usual way, with the highest power of x first. Usually there are fixed rules you can use to decide whether something is in canonical form. The jargon meaning, a relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired its present loading in computer-science culture largely through its prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and mathematical logic (seeKnights of the Lambda Calculus). Comparevanilla.
Non-technical academics do not use the adjective `canonical' in any of the senses defined above with any regularity; they do however use the nouns `canon' and `canonicity' (not **canonicalness or **canonicality). The `canon' of a given author is the complete body of authentic works by that author (this usage is familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as to literary scholars). `Thecanon' is the body of works in a given field (e.g., works of literature, or of art, or of music) deemed worthwhile for students to study and for scholars to investigate.
The word `canon' has an interesting history. It derives ultimately from the Greek `kanon' (akin to the English `cane') referring to a reed. Reeds were used for measurement, and in Latin and later Greek the word `canon' meant a rule or a standard. The establishment of a canon of scriptures within Christianity was meant to define a standard or a rule for the religion. The above non-techspeak academic usages stem from this instance of a defined and accepted body of work. Alongside this usage was the promulgation of `canons' (`rules') for the government of the Catholic Church. The techspeak usages ("according to religious law") derive from this use of the Latin `canon'.
Hackers invest this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic contrast with its historical meaning. A true story: One Bob Sjoberg, new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed some annoyance at the incessant use of jargon. Over his loud objections, GLS and RMS made a point of using as much of it as possible in his presence, and eventually it began to sink in. Finally, in one conversation, he used the word `canonical' in jargon-like fashion without thinking. Steele: "Aha! We've finally got you talking jargon too!" Stallman: "What did he say?" Steele: "Bob just used `canonical' in the canonical way."
Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly defined as the wayhackersnormally expect things to be. Thus, a hacker may claim with a straight face that `according to religious law' isnotthe canonical meaning of `canonical'.
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card walloper
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card wallopern.
An EDP programmer who grinds out batch programs that do stupid things like print people's paychecks. Comparecode grinder. See alsopunched card,eighty-column mind.
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careware
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cargo cult programming
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careware/keir'weir/ n.
A variety ofsharewarefor which either the author suggests that some payment be made to a nominated charity or a levy directed to charity is included on top of the distribution charge. Syn.charityware; comparecrippleware, sense 2.
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cargo cult programming
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cargo cult programmingn.
A style of (incompetent) programming dominated by ritual inclusion of code or program structures that serve no real purpose. A cargo cult programmer will usually explain the extra code as a way of working around some bug encountered in the past, but usually neither the bug nor the reason the code apparently avoided the bug was ever fully understood (compareshotgun debugging,voodoo programming).
The term `cargo cult' is a reference to aboriginal religions that grew up in the South Pacific after World War II. The practices of these cults center on building elaborate mockups of airplanes and military style landing strips in the hope of bringing the return of the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war. Hackish usage probably derives from Richard Feynman's characterization of certain practices as "cargo cult science" in his book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" (W. W. Norton & Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7).
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cascade
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cascaden.
1. A huge volume of spurious error-message output produced by a compiler with poor error recovery. Too frequently, one trivial syntax error (such as a missing `)' or `}') throws the parser out of synch so that much of the remaining program text is interpreted as garbaged or ill-formed. 2. A chain of Usenet followups, each adding some trivial variation or riposte to the text of the previous one, all of which is reproduced in the new message; aninclude warin which the object is to create a sort of communal graffito.
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case and paste
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case and pasten.
[from `cut and paste'] 1. The addition of a newfeatureto an existing system by selecting the code from an existing feature and pasting it in with minor changes. Common in telephony circles because most operations in a telephone switch are selected usingcasestatements. Leads tosoftware bloat.
In some circles of EMACS users this is called `programming by Meta-W', because Meta-W is the EMACS command for copying a block of text to a kill buffer in preparation to pasting it in elsewhere. The term is condescending, implying that the programmer is acting mindlessly rather than thinking carefully about what is required to integrate the code for two similar cases.
AtDEC(now Compaq), this is sometimes called `clone-and-hack' coding.
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casters-up mode
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casting the runes
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casters-up moden.
[IBM, prob. fr. slangbelly up] Yet another synonym for `broken' or `down'. Usually connotes a major failure. A system (hardware or software) which is `down' may be already being restarted before the failure is noticed, whereas one which is `casters up' is usually a good excuse to take the rest of the day off (as long as you're not responsible for fixing it).
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casting the runes
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cat
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casting the runesn.
What agurudoes when you ask him or her to run a particular program and type at it because it never works for anyone else; esp. used when nobody can ever see what the guru is doing different from what J. Random Luser does. Compareincantation,runes,examining the entrails; also see the AI koan about Tom Knight in "Some AI Koans" (Appendix A).
A correspondent from England tells us that one of ICL's most talented systems designers used to be called out occasionally to service machines which thefield circushad given up on. Since he knew the design inside out, he could often find faults simply by listening to a quick outline of the symptoms. He used to play on this by going to some site where the field circus had just spent the last two weeks solid trying to find a fault, and spreading a diagram of the system out on a table top. He'd then shake some chicken bones and cast them over the diagram, peer at the bones intently for a minute, and then tell them that a certain module needed replacing. The system would start working again immediately upon the replacement.
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cat
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catatonic
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cat[from `catenate' viaUnixcat(1)] vt.
1. [techspeak] To spew an entire file to the screen or some other output sink without pause (syn.blast). 2. By extension, to dump large amounts of data at an unprepared target or with no intention of browsing it carefully. Usage: considered silly. Rare outside Unix sites. See alsodd,BLT.
Among Unix fans,cat(1)is considered an excellent example of user-interface design, because it delivers the file contents without such verbosity as spacing or headers between the files, and because it does not require the files to consist of lines of text, but works with any sort of data.
Among Unix haters,cat(1)is considered thecanonicalexample ofbaduser-interface design, because of its woefully unobvious name. It is far more often used toblasta file to standard output than to concatenate two files. The namecatfor the former operation is just as unintuitive as, say, LISP'scdr.
Of such oppositions areholy warsmade....
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catatonic
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catatonicadj.
Describes a condition of suspended animation in which something is sowedgedorhungthat it makes no response. If you are typing on a terminal and suddenly the computer doesn't even echo the letters back to the screen as you type, let alone do what you're asking it to do, then the computer is suffering from catatonia (possibly because it has crashed). "There I was in the middle of a winning game ofnethackand it went catatonic on me! Aaargh!" Comparebuzz.
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cathedral
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cathedraln.,adj.
[seebazaarfor derivation] The `classical' mode of software engineering long thought to be necessarily implied byBrooks's Law. Features small teams, tight project control, and long release intervals. This term came into use after analysis of the Linux experience suggested there might be something wrong (or at least incomplete) in the classical assumptions.
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cd tilde
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CDA
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cathedral
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cd tilde/C-D til-d*/ vi.
To go home. From the Unix C-shell and Korn-shell commandcd ~, which takes one to one's$HOME(cdwith no arguments happens to do the same thing). By extension, may be used with other arguments; thus, over an electronic chat link,cd ~coffeewould mean "I'm going to the coffee machine."