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On Tue, Jun 17, 2003 at 02:56:36AM +0900, F. GEIGER wrote:
> >    "tmp" is always a temporary variable.
> 
> There's almost never any point in using any name containing "tmp". Most
> variables are temporary...

A tmp variable is one that is so temporary that it's use doesn't span more 
than a few lines.  Certainly never more than a screenful of code.  Other 
variables are used over longer stretches of code.  The name tmp helps make 
a distinction.  For example:

/* C code:
 * Switch two values. */
 
 tmp = a;
 a   = b;
 b   = tmp;

Of course, this is mute in Ruby where you can do "a, b = b, a".  So the 
"tmp" syntax is more of a C tradition (or Fortran).

> I prefer using "aux" if I need an ad-hoc variable and cannot come up with a
> better name.

The purpose of tmp is not to be an ad-hoc variable.  Just like i and j are 
not ad-hock.  They have particular meanings, expemplified above.

- -- 
Daniel Carrera         | OpenPGP fingerprint:
Graduate TA, Math Dept | 6643 8C8B 3522 66CB D16C D779 2FDD 7DAC 9AF7 7A88
UMD  (301) 405-5137    | http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/pgp.html
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