so my question is.... now that I decided that days are niumbere 1 to 7, what is day 1 ??? is it Sunday, or Monday? what is the Right Thing to do?
Your choice is ok. One observation to add is about numbering/enumerating/counting in general: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, ... well - I've never heard about "the 0-st". Enumerating starting with zero seems to have come in vogue with C, due to the simpler address calculation (saves some micro seconds?). Whether week starts with Monday or Sunday depends on the culture; this is independent of any number assigned to it. Regards, Janis
Janis.Papanagnou@varetis.de wrote:
I've never heard about "the 0-st". Enumerating starting with zero seems to have come in vogue with C, due to the simpler address calculation (saves some micro seconds?).
In case as computer programmers, anyone was wondering if starting with the "0th" is just anti-social and a break with tradition, I'd like to remind us all that there is precedence for starting with 0 in non- computer culture. 1. Street numbering in planned towns. Many towns in Canada and the USA, particularly those layed out in the 19th Century, are layed out in grids or at least with some sets of streets in parellel. The number of the streets almost never starts with 1, but nearly always has a "0th" street. A common name for this street is "Main", but there are many other examples (River, Front, State, Center, Railroad etc.) The streets are then numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4rd etc. 2. Building Floor Numbering In many tall buildings (but not all), the floor which is at the level of the street is not numbered 1, but the first floor above the 'ground' floor is numbered 1. Numbering continues upward. Other examples that pre-date the C array convention exist, probably none of which had a direct influence on C arrays. Each of the examples, show that others have found uses for numbering things "Start" and "1" and "2". Have fun, -Paul p.s. Doesn't the week starts sometime after the 1st coffee on Monday. ------ Myriad Genetics: http://www.myriad.com/ Java FAQ: http://www.afu.com/javafaq.html (Section 9, Computer Dating)
Numbering conventions are culturally bound ( at times independent of the fact that the same numbering system is used (e.g. Arabic numerals). In French language a building always has a "première étage", whether it is on the "ground floor" or not enjoy - Jake P.S. A week can also start after the 1st tea on Monday.
-----Original Message----- From: Paul Hill [mailto:phill@myriad.com] Sent: October 2, 2000 11:15 AM To: tz@elsie.nci.nih.gov Cc: tz@elsie.nci.nih.gov Subject: Re: week starts at Sunday or Monday??
Janis.Papanagnou@varetis.de wrote:
I've never heard about "the 0-st". Enumerating starting with zero seems to have come in vogue with C, due to the simpler address calculation (saves some micro seconds?).
In case as computer programmers, anyone was wondering if starting with the "0th" is just anti-social and a break with tradition, I'd like to remind us all that there is precedence for starting with 0 in non- computer culture.
1. Street numbering in planned towns.
Many towns in Canada and the USA, particularly those layed out in the 19th Century, are layed out in grids or at least with some sets of streets in parellel. The number of the streets almost never starts with 1, but nearly always has a "0th" street. A common name for this street is "Main", but there are many other examples (River, Front, State, Center, Railroad etc.) The streets are then numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4rd etc.
2. Building Floor Numbering
In many tall buildings (but not all), the floor which is at the level of the street is not numbered 1, but the first floor above the 'ground' floor is numbered 1. Numbering continues upward.
Other examples that pre-date the C array convention exist, probably none of which had a direct influence on C arrays. Each of the examples, show that others have found uses for numbering things "Start" and "1" and "2".
Have fun,
-Paul
p.s. Doesn't the week starts sometime after the 1st coffee on Monday. ------ Myriad Genetics: http://www.myriad.com/ Java FAQ: http://www.afu.com/javafaq.html (Section 9, Computer Dating)
Quoth Infoman Inc. on Mon, Oct 02, 2000:
From: Paul Hill [mailto:phill@myriad.com]
p.s. Doesn't the week starts sometime after the 1st coffee on Monday. P.S. A week can also start after the 1st tea on Monday.
ISO 8601:1988 defines the beginning of a week as "after the first caffeinated drink on Monday". So both of you are right. Vadik. -- Yes, you can get an account if you promise not to wear ties anymore. -- Unknown sysadmin, 1998-10-27.
<<On Mon, 2 Oct 2000 16:24:50 +0200, Janis.Papanagnou@varetis.de said:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, ... well - I've never heard about "the 0-st". Enumerating starting with zero seems to have come in vogue with C,
There's been a Zero Church Street in Cambridge, Mass., for a good deal longer than there's been a C programming language. Blame the mathematicians. -GAWollman
Quoth Janis.Papanagnou@varetis.de on Mon, Oct 02, 2000:
One observation to add is about numbering/enumerating/counting in general: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, ... well - I've never heard about "the 0-st". Enumerating starting with zero seems to have come in vogue with C, due to the simpler address calculation (saves some micro seconds?).
In C, array indices (I think that's what you mean) are not enumeration, but offsets. foo[bar] is internally translated to *(foo + bar), therefore: arr[i] == *(arr + i) == *(i + arr) == i[arr] Vadik. -- Would like to kill a certain group of users. -- UNIX tech support call
participants (5)
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Garrett Wollman -
Infoman Inc. -
Janis.Papanagnou＠varetis.de -
Paul Hill -
Vadim Vygonets