Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83 (MC840302); site mcvax.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!mcvax!guido
From: guido@mcvax.UUCP (Guido van Rossum)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: 6 character external identifiers
Message-ID: <5891@mcvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Jul-84 08:27:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: mcvax.5891
Posted: Thu Jul 12 08:27:53 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Jul-84 02:02:16 EDT
References: <74@datagen.UUCP> <598@sdcsla.UUCP> <7804@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: guido@mcvax.UUCP (Guido van Rossum)
Organization: "Stamp Out BASIC" Committee, CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 21

There is a rather elegant way to replace long external identifiers by
shorter ones: use the C preprocessor.  It should be easy to write a
program which generates a set of lines to a file "rename.h" like:

	#define ThisIsAVeryLongName _1ThisIsAVeryLongName 
	#define ThisIsAnother _2ThisIsAnother
	etc.

The advantage is clear: no need to read a program full of cryptical short
names.  You may also choose your own abbreviations, if this help interpreting
debugger or loader diagnostics.  It especially works well with the
ANSI standard because the preprocessor has to distinguish such long
names.  Also, it is easy to add this later to any existing program.

[This idea was used by James Gosling to get Emacs on a PDP.  He even modified
the preprocessor to *automatically* #include a file "map.h" in front of every
file processed.  I wonder if he succeeded, given the size of the code :-)]

--
	Guido van Rossum, "Stamp Out BASIC" Committee, CWI, Amsterdam
	guido @ mcvax