Re: The word "symbol"

"dawn" <dawnwolthuis_at_gmail.com> wrote in message news:1124063917.008727.271740_at_o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com... ...
> The question of whether to model integers used within software as
> subclasses of strings, for example, makes sense when we understand that
> 1234 is not a number, but a symbol for one, just as "David" is not a
> name, but a symbol for one (in response to VC's question about whether
> "symbol" and "name" are synonyms).
>

If you say that "David" is a symbol for a person's name, then, in order to be consistent, you ought to say that "1234" is a symbol for the number's name, although I do not think that in the context of formal systems such locutions are productive at all. Instead, it's much easier and clearer to say that "David" is a person's name and "1234" is a constant (a number's name).

Cheers.

> --dawn
>
Received on Mon Aug 15 2005 - 02:36:06 CEST