XPost: sci.lang, comp.lang.lisp

https://xkcd.com/353/ ( Flying with Python )




https://xkcd.com/1306/
what does SIGIL mean?



Other xkcd that you like?

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XPost: sci.lang, comp.lang.lisp

On 30/03/24 7:21 pm, HenHanna wrote:

https://xkcd.com/1306/
                         what does  SIGIL   mean?

I think its' a Perl term, referring to the $/@/# symbols in front of identifiers.

--
Greg

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On 2024-03-30 11:25, Skip Montanaro via Python-list wrote:

https://xkcd.com/1306/
what does SIGIL mean?

I think its' a Perl term, referring to the $/@/# symbols in front of
identifiers.

I had a vague recollection of hearing it elsewhere (*Game of Thrones,* on
the armies' battle flags?), but didn't know what it meant. Google tells me:

*an inscribed or painted symbol considered to have magical power.*

So, they're more than just line noise. They confer power on their users...

Perhaps '@' in the context of decorators is the most prominent example in Python, since decorators technically don't allow the programmer to do something they couldn't before, but are now are used everywhere, a key feature of many applications and modules.

Magical-ly, y'rs,

I wouldn't consider '@' to be a sigil any more than I would a unary minus.
In Perl there's the prefixes $ (scalar), @ (array) and %
(hash/dictionary), but also & (function), although it's rare because
there's also the () afterwards.

Variables in PHP have the prefix $ and only $.

In old versions of BASIC, string variables had the suffix $, and integer variables the suffix %. Some versions also had the suffix # (for double precision, I think).

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On 3/30/24 10:31, MRAB via Python-list wrote:

On 2024-03-30 11:25, Skip Montanaro via Python-list wrote:

https://xkcd.com/1306/
                           what does  SIGIL   mean?

I think its' a Perl term, referring to the $/@/# symbols in front of
identifiers.

I wouldn't consider '@' to be a sigil any more than I would a unary minus.

Nonetheless, Perl folk do use that term, specifically.

"One thing that distinguishes Perl from other languages is its use of
sigils; the funny looking symbols placed in front of variable names. "

$ Scalar $foo
@ Array @foo
% Hash %foo
& Subroutine &foo
* Typeglob *foo

Sigils have many benefits, not least of which is that variables

can be interpolated into strings with no additional syntax. Perl scripts
are also easy to read (for people who have bothered to learn Perl!)
because the nouns stand out from verbs. And new verbs can be added to
the language without breaking old scripts.

Programming Perl, Chapter 1, 4th Edition

etc.

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On 2024-03-30 17:58:08 +0000, Alan Gauld via Python-list wrote:

On 30/03/2024 07:04, Greg Ewing via Python-list wrote:

On 30/03/24 7:21 pm, HenHanna wrote:

https://xkcd.com/1306/
                         what does  SIGIL   mean?

I think its' a Perl term, referring to the $/@/# symbols in front of identifiers.

Correct (although strictly speaking they are in front of an expression,
not an identifier).

There seem to be several derivation sources including a fantasy world
city suspended above a very thin, tall steeple....

Personally, I know SIGIL as an opensource EPUB editor!

Well, it's an ordinary English word of Latin origin (sigillum means
literally "small sign") in use since the 15th century. No need to go
hunting for proper names.

None of them seem to have any direct connection to the xkcd cartoon.

In my opinion the connection to Perl sigils is very direct.

hp


--
_ | Peter J. Holzer | Story must make more sense than reality.
|_|_) | |
| | | hjp@hjp.at | -- Charles Stross, "Creative writing
__/ | http://www.hjp.at/ | challenge!"

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On 2024-03-31 12:27:34 -0600, Mats Wichmann via Python-list wrote:

On 3/30/24 10:31, MRAB via Python-list wrote:

On 2024-03-30 11:25, Skip Montanaro via Python-list wrote:

https://xkcd.com/1306/
                          what does  SIGIL   mean?

I think its' a Perl term, referring to the $/@/# symbols in front of identifiers.

[You cut out a lot of context here]

I wouldn't consider '@' to be a sigil any more than I would a unary minus.

Nonetheless, Perl folk do use that term, specifically.

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the use of @ in python to denote a
decorator here. Which is a totally different thing than a Perl sigil.

hp

--
_ | Peter J. Holzer | Story must make more sense than reality.
|_|_) | |
| | | hjp@hjp.at | -- Charles Stross, "Creative writing
__/ | http://www.hjp.at/ | challenge!"

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XPost: sci.lang, comp.lang.lisp

On 3/29/2024 11:21 PM, HenHanna wrote:

https://xkcd.com/353/      ( Flying with  Python )

https://xkcd.com/1306/

                      what does  SIGIL   mean? -- (i got it...Thanks!)

Other  xkcd   that you like?

my fav. one may be the one about [Bad-ass Hacker] [Nice-ass car].


Does he use Python? i wonder.

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