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Topic: Metasyntactic variable

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	Encyclopedia :: encyclopedia : Variable (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Variables are useful in mathematics and computer programming because they allow instructions to be specified in a general way.
		In general, a variable binds an object to a name so that the object could be accessed later, much like a person has a name and people could refer to him by that name.
		Usually, a variable is set to reside in some scope in program code, and entrance and leave of the scope coincides with the beginning and ending of a variable life, respectively.
	www.hallencyclopedia.com /Variable (2085 words)

	Metasyntactic variable - Encyclopedia, History, Geography and Biography
		The use of a metasyntactic variable is helpful in freeing a programmer from creating a logically named variable, although the invented term may also become sufficiently popular and enter the language as a neologism.
		The phenomenon is similar to the use in algebra of x, y and z for unknown variables, and a, b and c for unknown constants.
		The number 42 is often a common initializer for integer variables, and acts in the same vein as a "metasyntactic value".
	www.arikah.net /encyclopedia/Quux (2454 words)

	Metasyntactic variable - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		A metasyntactic variable is either a placeholder name (a kind of alias term, commonly used to denote the subject matter under discussion), or a random member of a class of things under discussion.
		The word foo is the canonical example (it is known as the canonical metasyntactical variable).
		Other languages sometimes have their own metasyntactic variables.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Metasyntactic_variable (2820 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		In programming, bar is a metasyntactic variable that is used to temporarily represent a function.
		Metasyntactic variables are sometimes used in developing a conceptual version of a program or examples of programming code written for illustrative purposes.
		When two or more metasyntactic variables are needed, bar is often paired with foo as a result of the fact that foo is phonetically the first part of the otherwise unrelated acronym, FUBAR.
	searchwebservices.techtarget.com /termParser/1,290913,sid9_gci752930,00.html (241 words)

	Jargon 4.2, node: metasyntactic variable
		Metasyntactic variables are so called because (1) they are variables in the metalanguage used to talk about programs etc; (2) they are variables whose values are often variables (as in usages usages like "the value of f(foo,bar) is the sum of foo and bar").
		However, it has been plausibly suggested that the real reason for the term "metasyntactic variable" is that it sounds good.
		Some jargon terms are also used as metasyntactic names; barf and mumble, for example.
	www.science.uva.nl /~mes/jargon/m/metasyntacticvariable.html (311 words)

	Metasyntactic variable
		In computer programming, a metasyntactic variable is a name used in examples and understood by hackers and programmers to stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any random member of a class of things under discussion.
		However, it has been plausibly suggested that the real reason for the term metasyntactic variable is that it sounds good: the term is a piece of computer jargon.
		baz is the third metasyntactic variable, commonly used after foo and bar.
	www.ebroadcast.com.au /lookup/encyclopedia/ba/Baz.html (247 words)

	Foo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Foo Fighters, a post-grunge group formed by Dave Grohl.
		foo fighters, a World War II term for various UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over Europe and the Pacific theatre.
		Foo, also a known surname or last name of a chinese; hainanese heritage descent.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Foo (126 words)

	Language Log: Metapragmatic apologia
		The link on metapragmatic goes to the Jargon File entry for metasyntactic variable, glossed as "[a] name used in examples and understood to stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any random member of a class of things under discussion".
		The same thing is true for "variables" in most programming languages, which may be restricted as to type or have other conditions placed on their values.
		I admit that it's not normal to limit the instantiations of a variable to the contextual interpretations of a word -- but the young woman overheard on Fulton St. was using the language of mathematics to express an insight about an aspect of her life not defined by any prior formalism.
	itre.cis.upenn.edu /~myl/languagelog/archives/001880.html (829 words)

	Metasyntactic variable - Biocrawler (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		A metasyntactic variable is a placeholder name, or a kind of alias term, commonly used to denote the subject matter under discussion, or a random member of a class of things under discussion.
		However, it has been plausibly suggested that the real reason for the term metasyntactic variable is that it sounds 'cool': the term is an example of computer jargon.
		Quux is the canonical fourth metasyntactic variable, commonly used after baz.
	www.biocrawler.com /encyclopedia/Foo (1292 words)

	Smart Computing Article - medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite to metasyntactic variable (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Metasyntactic variables are generally arbitrary, nonsense words that computer programmers temporarily assign to functions in developing and discussing programming concepts.
		Although lists of metasyntactic variables vary greatly from one entity to the next, some terms are common to many, if not all, lists, largely because of their antiquity (length of time in programming jargon).
		In many cases, "foo" is the first metasyntactic variable, followed by "bar." For example, a common list that was developed and became popular at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Stanford University begins foo, bar, baz, quux, quuux, quuuux.
	www.smartcomputing.com /editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/r0603/06r03/06r03.asp&guid=75B05D21A0B142CAAC7696A33C41E384 (4236 words)

	Texinfo: Marking Text (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		You can specify, for example, whether a word or phrase is a defining occurrence, a metasyntactic variable, or a symbol used in a program.
		For example, you should use a metasyntactic variable in the documentation of a function to describe the arguments that are passed to that function.
		Write a metasyntactic variable all in lower case without spaces, and use hyphens to make it more readable.
	www.xemacs.org /Documentation/21.5/html/texinfo_10.html (2406 words)

	Wikinfo \| Metasyntactic variable
		The use of metasyntactic variables is also helpful in that they free the engineer from having to think up a logically named variable for the topic under discussion.
		This is similar to algebraic variables which are usually x, y, and z for unknown variables and a, b, and c for constants.
		Images, some of which are used under the doctrine of Fair use or used with permission, may not be available.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Foo (642 words)

	Metasyntactic variable
		The word xyzzy is the "magic word" from the Colossal Cave Adventure, and as such is often used as a metasyntactic variable, especially by old-school hackers.
		Other words used as metasyntactic variables include: test, mum, thud, beekeeper, hoge, corge, grault, garply, waldo, plugh, kalaa, puppu, dothestuff, temp, var, sub.
		The number 23 is also commonly used as an integer example --particularly when the connotations associated with 42 are undesirable.
	www.askfactmaster.com /Foo (768 words)

	Metasyntactic Variable
		And "i" as well as "j" in such cases are ordinary (object language) variables, not metasyntactic variables.
		The practice of metasyntactic variables predates computing, as in "Tom, Dick or Harry" or in Spanish, "Fulano, Zutano, and Meningo." For some reason, there always seem to be three of them.
		In cryptography, the metasyntactic characters I met were Alice and Bob (the good guys) and Charlie (the bad one who tries to decypher)...
	c2.com /cgi/wiki?MetasyntacticVariable (918 words)

	Info Node: (texinfo)var (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		A "metasyntactic variable" is something that stands for another piece of text.
		For example, the Emacs Lisp variable `texinfo-tex-command' is not a metasyntactic variable; it is properly formatted using `@code'.
		The effect of `@var' in the Info file is to change the case of the argument to all upper case.
	www.cs.cmu.edu /cgi-bin/info2www?(texinfo)var (210 words)

	Var (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		@var ---- `@var' is used to indicate metasyntactic variables.
		You would use a metasyntactic variable in the documentation of a function to describe the arguments that are passed to that function.
		For example, the Texinfo variable `texinfo-tex-command' is not a metasyntactic variable.
	www.cis.ksu.edu /VirtualHelp/Info/gnu/texinfo.Var.html (116 words)

	RFC3092
		This may seem trivial, but a number of newcomers, especially if English is not their native language, have had problems in understanding the origin of those terms.
		First on the standard list of metasyntactic variables used in syntax examples (bar, baz, qux, quux, corge, grault, garply, waldo, fred, plugh, xyzzy, thud).
		RFC 3092 Etymology of "Foo" 1 April 2001 Appendix Below is a table of RFC occurrences of these words as metasyntactic variables.
	www.unix.org.ua /rfc/rfc3092.html (1878 words)

	[No title]
		The closeness between the definition of discrete problems and their symbolic mathematical expressions entails that the theory and mathematical bases of numerical methods, which are essential to anyone who wants to tackle the solving of discrete problems, can be directly followed by their practical applications.
		Metasyntactic variables (i.e., text bits that are not part of the syntax, but stand for other text bits) are printed like THIS.
		The freedom in defining various kinds of basis functions associated with different geometrical entities to interpolate a field permits to build made-to-measure function spaces adapted to a wide variety of field approximations (*note FunctionSpace examples::).
	www.geuz.org /getdp/doc/texinfo/getdp.txt (9711 words)

	foo - a Whatis.com definition
		Foo or any such word used this way is formally known as a metasyntactic variable.
		Eric Raymond, probably the world's greatest authority on foo and other metasyntactic variables, also lists qux, waldo, fred, xyzzy, and thud among others that are occasionally used.
		Although foo is the canonical metasyntactic variable, Raymond notes that cultures outside the United States have their own preferences.
	searchdomino.techtarget.com /gDefinition/0,294236,sid4_gci212139,00.html (318 words)

	Introduction to Perl - Scalars, Arrays, Hashes
		We know how to store values in a program: we are using variables, which we usually declare at the beginning of our programs.
		You may, of course, store long strings in a scalar variable as well, and there is no other limit than the size of your memory for a string, too.
		You know many things about these 'normal' variables already, but some predefined functions that are useful in many situations are still missing.
	www.sfs.uni-tuebingen.de /~ule/PerlIntro/001206 (2360 words)

	metasyntactic variable
		Metasyntactic variables are so called because (1) they are variables in the metalanguage used to talk about programs etc; (2) they are variables whose values are often variables (as in usages like "the value of f(foo,bar) is the sum of foo and bar").
		We are informed that the CS club at Waterloo formerly had a sign on its door reading "Ye Olde Foo Bar and Grill"; this led to an attempt to establish "grill" as the third metasyntactic variable, but it never caught on.
		This mirror of The Jargon File (but not the Jargon File itself) is maintained by RJL20 - hades@elsewhere.org.
	www.elsewhere.org /jargon/html/entry/metasyntactic-variable.html (423 words)

	metasyntactic variable n. A name used in examples and understood to stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any
		Metasyntactic variables are so called because (1) they are
		the term "metasyntactic variable" is that it sounds good.
		related groups of variables or objects) and as singletons.
	www.anvari.org /fortune/Jargon_File/17521.html (289 words)

	metasyntactic variable - a Whatis.com definition
		In programming, a metasyntactic (which derives from meta and syntax) variable is a variable (a changeable value) that is used to temporarily represent a function.
		Examples of metasyntactic variables include (but are by no means limited to) ack, bar, baz, blarg, wibble, foo, fum, and qux.
		Find white papers, products and vendors related to metasyntactic variable.
	whatis.techtarget.com /gDefinition/0,294236,sid44_gci752963,00.html (158 words)

	variable - Wink (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The scope of a variable is the portion of the program code for which the...
		Foo is the canonical metasyntactic variable, commonly used to represent an...
		If the syntax of a template call with parameters is applied with the name of a variable, depending on the variable the parameters are either ignored or...
	www.wink.com /variable (381 words)

	metasyntactic variable - FOLDOC Definition
		Strictly, a variable used in metasyntax, but often used for any name used in examples and understood to stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any random member of a class of things under discussion.
		Other CMU-associated variables include ack, barf, foo, and gorp.
		toto, titi, tata, tutu: Standard series of metasyntactic variables among francophones.
	www.nightflight.com /foldoc-bin/foldoc.cgi?metasyntactic+variable (295 words)

	This week on delores HBZ TECHgirl!
		A metasyntactic variable is just a fancypants term for a generic word that could stand for anything.
		You'll be happy to note that 'foo' isn't the only metasyntactic variable that gets used, it's only the most popular.
		Here 'A' is our variable that just stands for the number 1.
	www.elsewhere.org /tmp/delores_awk/geek.html (191 words)

	[No title]
		For example, metasyntactic variables are marked by `@var', and code by `@code'.
		Thus, you should use `@code' for an expression in a program, for the name of a variable or function used in a program, or for a keyword.
		In particular, you should not use the `@code' command when writing about the characters used in a token; do not, for example, use `@code' when you are explaining what letters or printable symbols can be used in the names of functions.
	www.umanitoba.ca /acn/unix/software/vendor_html/workshop/contrib/xemacs-21.4.12/lib/xemacs-21.4.12/info/texinfo.info-5 (6937 words)

	GetDP 1.2: Overview
		This decomposition points out the possibility of building fl boxes, containing objects of the second group, adapted to treatment of general classes of problems that share the same resolution methods.
		Note that metasyntactic variable definitions stay valid throughout all the manual (and not only in the sections where the definitions appear).
		See Metasyntactic variable index, for an index of all metasyntactic variables.
	www.geuz.org /getdp/doc/texinfo/getdp_3.html (808 words)

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