Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!nrl-cmf!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!att!alberta!calgary!xenlink!ajfcal!tony From: tony@ajfcal.UUCP (Tony Field) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Explanation of "Case-sensitive" Summary: Getting closer, but more Message-ID: <59@ajfcal.UUCP> Date: 26 Apr 89 16:27:04 GMT References: <13174@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> <175100004@hobbiton> <39708@think.UUCP> Organization: Co-Design Systems, Calgary, Ab, Can Lines: 45 I think we are finally getting close to the mark. In article <39708@think.UUCP>, barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin) writes: > > And the reason Unix is case-sensitive is that it was modeled after > Multics, which is also case-sensitive. I suspect that the reason > Multics was made case-sensitive was that it seemed more modern. .. etc .. Here are a few other reasons behind the case sensitivity of c and unix: C was based on B was based on BCBL. The B manual by J.S. Johnson clearly indicated that the "ascii" character set was to be used, including the letters A-Z and a-z. Code portablility from b to c possibly mandated the sensitivity to case. Modern computers such the PDP-11 and PDP-15 easily supported full ASCII - unlike the 80-column card based 7094, 360/40, and paper tape based 1620's. 8 bit in a byte: not 6 bit charactes. Lets use them... New programmes such as ROFF and RUNOFF were developed to process text. As a result, text editors had to be case sensitive. Case-sensitive editors encourage case sensitive programming languages. If I remember correctly, the first experimental versions of unix were used for office automation within Bell Labs: obviously a case-sensitive environment. Case sensitivity would have added "lots" of unnecessary code to the compiler and operating system support. The hundred of extra words/bytes could be better used doing more useful functions than worrying about case. (A 32k or 64k pdp-11 was a large system in those days) My English teacher used to "blast me" if I capitalized incorrectly. My compiler "blasts me" when I capitalize incorrectly. My marks were lower if my papers were capitalized incorrectly. My programmes don't work as well as I would like if I capitalize incorrectly. I guess I am just getting used to it...... -- +------------------------------------ | Tony Field ..uunet!utai!calgary!ajfcal!tony | Co-Design Information Systems Ltd. | Calgary, Alberta, Canada voice: (403) 266-3239