[Oberon] Re (2): Names in Unix.Oberon.NetSystem.Mod

[peter at easthope.ca]

From:	Joerg <joerg.straube at iaeth.ch>
Date:	Sat, 26 Aug 2023 18:46:04 +0200
> Principally, as neither Password nor PasswordDesc is exported, it‘s 
> a pure implementation decision how you want to call this 
> module-internal type.

Acknowledged.

I don't claim to be a professional programmer but things I write tend 
to be understandable, to me at least, within a year of writing.  As 
years pass, understanding the reasoning behind code withers.  =8~/

For code written by another, I don't have the original reasoning 
except where it was documented. The "understanding problem" is 
magnified.  The difficulty is mitigated by correct use of natural 
language.

The situation is illustrated by the parallel discussion of the CASE 
statement. The expert can assert, "I named the variable 'mammal' 
because it refers to a mammal." For the compiler, the variable might 
equally well be "whale" or "mammal" or "animal". For the human reader, 
the choice can be significant but subtle.

> Personally, I would only call the set („user“, „password“) „
> Credential“. As you store the host and the service as well, I 
> would call the bundle of these 4 strings „ServiceLogin“ or „
> ServiceAccess“ or something along these lines. 

Thanks.  English has no specific name for the four-tuple. I can 
imagine "authenticationFourTuple" but you might find that laughable.
With contemporary hardware, the length of the name is probably 
not objectionable.

> But feel free to call it „Credential“, if you like.

I'll refrain.  You caught a semantic error.

Not sure about "authenticationFourTuple".

Thanks for the helpful reply,                  ... P.L.

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