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:::But (unfortunately?) the word "vector" in computer science is most often used to refer to a variable-sized storage (see [[std::vector]]), while the word "array" is used to refer to the fixed-sized objects you are talking about. (In linear algebra libraries the word "vector" is used for fixed-sized objects, but these also demonstrate unusual (for programming) properties such as addition doing a component-wise action rather than an append operation).[[User:Spitzak|Spitzak]] ([[User talk:Spitzak|talk]]) 17:09, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
:: Yes, I know, it's a disaster. The designers of the C++ STL must have been rather ignorant, or why would you create that kind of mess otherwise, with concepts turned upside down? They could have called it ''dynamic array'', ''string of'' ''type'', or whatever; the well defined term ''vector'' was really the worst possible choice and the worst kind of hijacking of words. If they actually knew what they did, I guess they must have been inspired by the arrogant "C-syntax" (B→C→C++→Java etc), which, when spread to the world of webb languages some 15 years ago, caused the equality symbol to suddenly lose its meaning in large circles, a symbol that has been established in both mathematics and everyday use since hundreds of years. Too many young (or uneducated) people are now using == and != instead of = and ≠, also outside that world, and, worse, they would interpret ''a''=''b'' as a definition (or a mutation) of ''a'', by default...
::I can't see why Wikipedia shouldn't do what it can to clarify backgrounds like this. I belive it is crucical to illustrate "misunderstandings" and unessescary discrepancy in terminology among branches of science, so more people can see that there are other conventions than the most vulgar ones that one may want to adhere to. It does not conflict with the goal of describing actual usage and terminology or with "following the sources", as there are many kinds of sources, and plenty of room for elaborations on Wikipedia.
:: (As a side note, while "addition" may mean several things (as you wrote), only algebraic superposition should use the + sign really; concatenation may use &, &&, ::, |, concat, or whatnot, at least in my world ;) Regards [[Special:Contributions/83.255.32.149|83.255.32.149]] ([[User talk:83.255.32.149|talk]]) 04:37, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
:I agree, but you probably ought not to take it too far. "Character string" is usually implied, and the article shouldn't give the impression that "string" on its own is incorrect. For the most part, I think your edits were fine, although perhaps you could revert the edits to the string oriented languages section. More effort doesn't need to go into the issue, as that would just confuse the article. --[[User:StuartBrady|StuartBrady]] 22:59, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
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