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#include disclaimer. h
--
== Frank Foonly (Fubarco Systems) |
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In the above, the #ifdef/#endif pair is a conditional compilation syntax from C; here, it implies that the text between (which is a flame) should be evaluated only if you have turned on (or defined on) the switch FLAME. The #include at the end is C for "include standard disclaimer here"; the 'standard disclaimer' is understood to read, roughly, "These are my personal opinions and not to be construed as the official position of my employer." |
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The top section in the example, with at the left margin, is an example of an inclusion convention we'll discuss below. |
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More recently, following on the huge popularity of the World Wide Web, pseudo-HTML markup has become popular for similar purposes: |
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<flame>
Your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of
elderberries!
</flame> |
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You'll even see this with an HTML-style modifier: |
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<flame intensity="100%">
You seem well-suited for a career in government.
</flame> |
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Hackers also mix letters and numbers more freely than in mainstream usage. In particular, it is good hackish style to write a digit sequence where you intend the reader to understand the text string that names that number in English. So, hackers prefer to write '1970s' rather than 'nineteen-seventies' or '1970's' (the latter looks like a possessive). |
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It should also be noted that hackers exhibit much less reluctance to use multiply nested parentheses than is normal in English. Part of this is almost certainly due to influence from LISP (which uses deeply nested parentheses (like this (see?)) in its syntax a lot), but it has also been suggested that a more basic hacker trait of enjoying playing with complexity and pushing systems to their limits is in operation. |
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Finally, it is worth mentioning that many studies of on-line communication have shown that electronic links have a de-inhibiting effect on people. Deprived of the body-language cues through which emotional state is expressed, people tend to forget everything about other parties except what is presented over that ASCII link. This has both good and bad effects. A good |
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