I had a discussion with my wife this morning about something trivial. We weren't upset, but she later called it an argument. That got me to thinking, what exactly constitutes an argument? That thougt then led me to Perl (of course), and started me wondering this:

Why are command-line parameters called "arguments"?

That label doesn't make much sense to me. So Monks, let the enlightenment begin!

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Why "arguments"?
by sparkyichi (Deacon) on Jul 26, 2005 at 14:50 UTC
    From dictionary.com:
    6.Computer Science. A value used to evaluate a procedure or subroutine.

    I think this is derived from #5:
    Mathematics. - The independent variable of a function.
    or #7:
    Linguistics. - In generative grammar, any of various positions occupied by a noun phrase in a sentence.

    Sparky
    FMTEYEWTK
[reply]
Re: Why "arguments"?
by merlyn (Sage) on Jul 26, 2005 at 14:48 UTC
    Man: Is this the right room for an argument?
    Mr Vibrating: I've told you once.
    Man: No you haven't.
    Mr Vibrating: Yes I have.
    Man: When?
    Mr Vibrating: Just now!
    Man: No you didn't.
    Mr Vibrating: Yes I did!
    Man: Didn't.
    Mr Vibrating: Did.
    Man: Didn't.
    Mr Vibrating: I'm telling you I did!
    Man: You did not!
    Mr Vibrating: I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half-hour?
    Man: Oh, just a five minute one.

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
    Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

[reply]
      That's not an argument, that's merely a contradiction. An argument is a collected series of statements designed to establish a proposition. A contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of whatever the other person says.
      Jeff japhy Pinyan, P.L., P.M., P.O.D, X.S.: Perl, regex, and perl hacker
      How can we ever be the sold short or the cheated, we who for every service have long ago been overpaid? ~~ Meister Eckhart
[reply]
        No, it isn't!
[reply]
      Yes, after I was done musing about Perl, that skit was the next thing that popped into my head. :)
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Re: Why "arguments"?
by japhy (Canon) on Jul 26, 2005 at 14:52 UTC
    Merriam-Webster's first definition for "argument" is the obsolete "indication". Perhaps that's where argument derived its meaning in math, physics, and other sciences.
    Jeff japhy Pinyan, P.L., P.M., P.O.D, X.S.: Perl, regex, and perl hacker
    How can we ever be the sold short or the cheated, we who for every service have long ago been overpaid? ~~ Meister Eckhart
[reply]
Re: Why "arguments"?
by bluto (Curate) on Jul 26, 2005 at 15:45 UTC
    Well, if not "arguments" then what else? I suppose you just want all of your programs to just get a long. That's all well and good, but let's face it, a single long value really can't hold that much useful information.
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Re: Why "arguments"?
by Anonymous Monk on Jul 26, 2005 at 17:17 UTC
    Klingon programs do not have parameters. They have arguments. And they ALWAYS win them.
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Re: Why "arguments"?
by ady (Deacon) on Jul 27, 2005 at 13:47 UTC
    latin: argumentum= argument, proof, (distinctive) mark
    ...... arguere= to enlighten, explain, prove
    greek: argos= clear, shining white
    indoeuropean: argy- : light, clear, shining

    The arguments constitute a functions interface,its signature, it's "distinctive mark" -- somewhat like the "eyes" of the god Argos ("the clear eyed") in greek mythology, a herdsman whose eyes were always open && saw everything.
    -- Allan Dystrup
    =========================================================== As the eternal tranquility of Truth reveals itself to us, this very place is the Land of Lotuses
    -- Hakuin Ekaku Zenji
[reply]
      "indoeuropean" is language ?
      i've never seen this used for ethymology .
      /puzzled.
[reply]
        Quote "MIGRATIONS AND CULTURAL DIFFUSION carried the Indo-European protolanguage from the homeland, which the authors place in the Transcaucasus( see Historical Armenia maps), and fragmented it into dialects. Some spread west to Anatolia and Greece, others southwest to Iran and India. Most Western languages stem from an Eastern branch that rounded the Caspian Sea. Contact with Semitic languages in Mesopotamia and with Kartvelian languages in the Caucasus led to the adoption of many foreign words." See also This

        You can consider it equivalent to Root in *nix :)
        allan
        ===========================================================
        As the eternal tranquility of Truth reveals itself to us, this very place is the Land of Lotuses
        -- Hakuin Ekaku Zenji
[reply]
Re: Why "arguments"?
by greenFox (Vicar) on Jul 27, 2005 at 05:41 UTC

    "If a man says something in the forest and no woman is there to hear him, is he still wrong?"

    Or to paraphrase on topic "If a Perl programmer <insert favourite rant here>doesn't use strict</insert> and no PerlMonk sees the code are they still wrong?" :-)

    --
    Murray Barton
    Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought. -Basho

[reply]

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