[REBOL] R: Re: Correct Behaviour? Was False = 2 ????
From: rotenca:telvia:it at: 3-Jul-2001 10:57
Ken Anthony
<[kenneth--nwinet--com]> :
> If I'm counting something I may have one of them, but if I'm ordering
> something the first element has to be zero. Starting the count from 1 is as
> arbitrary as starting at negative five (other than the direct mapping to a
> count) in all other cases I can think of, starting from zero produces
> cleaner code. I think the Roman numeral analogy is more than apt.
Tell me which man, speaking of his old collection of book, says:
"The zero book i buyed was ..."
The first book is of course the first. When he counts them, he says:
"One, two, three..."
If a guest asks:
"How many books did you buy before this?"
he answers:
"Zero!"
So, the guest understands, with a little calculation, what is the first book
of collection.
Zero is the OFFSET, the difference of the first book with itself, it is not a
true number, is the result of a calculation.
So,
array[0]
is something which make life easy to computer (element=base+offset), but it is
an oddity for a not-computer-trained man.
The zero element of a series does not exist.
ciao (excuse my bad english)
romano paolo tenca
