anyone here hate when foo bar baz is used in example code?

shintaro · 09-25-2006, 04:36 PM

To me there is nothing worst when programmers use the words foo bar and baz in generic example code. Reason being that its so undescriptive, I mean how do you document foo? You should know just by looking at names whether its a variable, fuction name, string output. But how are you supposed to remember what foo does?

itsme86 · 09-25-2006, 04:40 PM

Quote:

You should know just by looking at names whether its a variable, fuction name, string output. But how are you supposed to remember what foo does?

Use this cheat sheet:

foo = variable
foo(<args>) = function
"foo" = string

shintaro · 09-25-2006, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsme86

Use this cheat sheet:

foo = variable
foo(<args>) = function
"foo" = string

Im really not that stupid.

Try this example, I was currently reading this in the article "Understanding Initialization Lists in C++" which is on this site:

Code:

int main()
{
        // a lovely elephant ;)
        Bar bar;
}

WTF is Bar bar? Can you tell me what kind of statement this is without refering to the article?

zx-1 · 09-25-2006, 04:50 PM

http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/M/me...-variable.html

Bar bar is just the author being stupid and making a lame pun on "Babar".

jlou · 09-25-2006, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shintaro

Code:

int main()
{
        // a lovely elephant ;)
        Bar bar;
}

WTF is Bar bar? Can you tell me what kind of statement this is without refering to the article?

Bar is a class and bar is an instance of the class.

itsme86 · 09-25-2006, 05:40 PM

Or a struct and an instance of a struct

Either way. It's obviously a declaration in the normal form <type> <name>;

and changing Bar to something else still wouldn't tell you if it was a class or a struct.

shintaro · 09-25-2006, 05:49 PM

Which of these is more readable?

this:

Code:

Void modifyName(char name[100])
{
            strcat (name, “ is stupid”);
}
 
void setUpName(void)
{
            char            name[100];
           
            sprintf(name, “Jake”);
            modifyName(name);
            printf(“%s”, name);
}

or this:

Code:

Void foo(char baz[100])
{
            strcat (baz, “ quz”);
}
 
void bar(void)
{
            char            baz[100];
           
            sprintf(baz, “qok”);
            foo(baz);
            printf(“%s”, baz);
}

itsme86 · 09-25-2006, 06:07 PM

They're both wrong.

Mario F. · 09-25-2006, 06:07 PM

Some people exaggerate their use.

foo, bar and baz should be used as placeholders. Nothing more. Their only purpose is to exemplify or demonstrate some concept. Not to be used as actual names.

For instance, if I'm talking about the relation between two classes, I may want to exemplify with a code where each class is named foo and bar. The name of the classes is meaningless for the argument at hand. foo and bar served only as placeholder names to give meaning to the code.

System_159 · 09-25-2006, 09:28 PM

what bothers me the most is that it should actually be fu and bar, not foo and bar. Seeing as how fubar stands for F***ed Up Beyond All Repair.

prog-bman · 09-25-2006, 09:52 PM

I prefer to name my example classes and such poop and pee.

Yoshi · 09-25-2006, 11:00 PM

I like egg and spam...

**Bubba** · 09-25-2006, 11:46 PM

I like green eggs and ham.

**Salem** · 09-25-2006, 11:54 PM

> But how are you supposed to remember what foo does?
Because they're never supposed to be used in real code, only examples of concept or syntax.
When you understand that, simply replace them with whatever is actually meaningful in your code.

Side effect - it stops people from simply copy/pasting the answers and actually doing a bit of work.

maxorator · 09-26-2006, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shintaro

To me there is nothing worst when programmers use the words foo bar and baz in generic example code. Reason being that its so undescriptive, I mean how do you document foo? You should know just by looking at names whether its a variable, fuction name, string output. But how are you supposed to remember what foo does?

Would you prefer words "egg", "ham" and "apple"?

09-25-2006, 04:36 PM	#1
shintaro Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 37	anyone here hate when foo bar baz is used in example code? To me there is nothing worst when programmers use the words foo bar and baz in generic example code. Reason being that its so undescriptive, I mean how do you document foo? You should know just by looking at names whether its a variable, fuction name, string output. But how are you supposed to remember what foo does?
shintaro is offline

09-25-2006, 04:50 PM	#4
zx-1 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 151	http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/M/me...-variable.html Bar bar is just the author being stupid and making a lame pun on "Babar". __________________ System: Debian Sid and FreeBSD 7.0. Both with GCC 4.3. Useful resources: comp.lang.c FAQ \| C++ FQA Lite
zx-1 is offline

09-25-2006, 05:40 PM	#6
itsme86 Gawking at stupidity Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 2,324	Or a struct and an instance of a struct Either way. It's obviously a declaration in the normal form <type> <name>; and changing Bar to something else still wouldn't tell you if it was a class or a struct. __________________ If you understand what you're doing, you're not learning anything. Ignore any "advice" esbo tries to give you. It's wrong.
itsme86 is offline

09-25-2006, 06:07 PM	#8
itsme86 Gawking at stupidity Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 2,324	They're both wrong. __________________ If you understand what you're doing, you're not learning anything. Ignore any "advice" esbo tries to give you. It's wrong.
itsme86 is offline

09-25-2006, 06:07 PM	#9
Mario F. (?<!re)tired Join Date: May 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 5,661	Some people exaggerate their use. foo, bar and baz should be used as placeholders. Nothing more. Their only purpose is to exemplify or demonstrate some concept. Not to be used as actual names. For instance, if I'm talking about the relation between two classes, I may want to exemplify with a code where each class is named foo and bar. The name of the classes is meaningless for the argument at hand. foo and bar served only as placeholder names to give meaning to the code. __________________ Originally Posted by brewbuck: Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
Mario F. is online now

09-25-2006, 09:28 PM	#10
System_159 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 159	what bothers me the most is that it should actually be fu and bar, not foo and bar. Seeing as how fubar stands for F***ed Up Beyond All Repair.
System_159 is offline

09-25-2006, 09:52 PM	#11
prog-bman Sweet Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Tucson, Arizona Posts: 1,698	I prefer to name my example classes and such poop and pee. __________________ Woop?
prog-bman is offline

09-25-2006, 11:00 PM	#12
Yoshi Gas pump powered Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 853	I like egg and spam... __________________ Yoshi
Yoshi is offline

09-25-2006, 11:46 PM	#13
Bubba Super Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 7,817	I like green eggs and ham.
Bubba is offline

09-25-2006, 11:54 PM	#14
Salem and the hat of Jobseeking Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The edge of the known universe Posts: 21,706	> But how are you supposed to remember what foo does? Because they're never supposed to be used in real code, only examples of concept or syntax. When you understand that, simply replace them with whatever is actually meaningful in your code. Side effect - it stops people from simply copy/pasting the answers and actually doing a bit of work. __________________ If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
Salem is offline

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Values changing without reason?	subtled	C Programming	2	04-19-2007 10:20 AM
Explain this C code in english	soadlink	C Programming	16	08-31-2006 12:48 AM
beach bar (sims type game)	DrKillPatient	Game Programming	1	03-06-2006 01:32 PM
Who will map the scan code (inserted by VKD_Force_keys) to virtual key code?	Unregistered	Windows Programming	0	02-21-2002 06:05 PM
Can you have nested code block? What does the compiler do? For example ...	albertr	C Programming	4	01-16-2002 12:04 AM