SV 'queue' === SW 'deque'

[SysTom]

What SystemVerilog calls a 'queue' has been called a 'deque' for many
years by software engineers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deque. The
spec should be changed.

 

On Feb 6, 6:25 pm, SysTom <tjo...@echelon.com> wrote:
What SystemVerilog calls a 'queue' has been called a 'deque' for many
years by software engineers:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deque. The
spec should be changed.

Although you are correct, deque would probably confuse many by seeming
to mean "remove from queue". I think we all understand that a double
ended queue is still a queue.
- Mark

Yes, let's have straightforward terminology. Terms like "deque",
"AFAIK", "IMHO", "your mileage may vary" serve only to maintain a
clique and to exclude those whose first language is not English.

Mike

 

[mrfirmware]

On Feb 6, 6:25 pm, SysTom <tjo...@echelon.com> wrote:

What SystemVerilog calls a 'queue' has been called a 'deque' for many
years by software engineers:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deque. The
spec should be changed.

Although you are correct, deque would probably confuse many by seeming
to mean "remove from queue". I think we all understand that a double
ended queue is still a queue.
- Mark

 

[SysTom]

On Feb 7, 6:05 am, MikeShepherd...@btinternet.com wrote:

On Feb 6, 6:25 pm, SysTom <tjo...@echelon.com> wrote:
What SystemVerilog calls a 'queue' has been called a 'deque' for many
years by software engineers:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deque.  The
spec should be changed.

Although you are correct, deque would probably confuse many by seeming
to mean "remove from queue". I think we all understand that a double
ended queue is still a queue.
- Mark

Yes, let's have straightforward terminology.  Terms like "deque",
"AFAIK", "IMHO", "your mileage may vary" serve only to maintain a
clique and to exclude those whose first language is not English.

Mike

A new word is always confusing until you learn its meaning. SW
engineers learned it - I dare to hope that HW engineers are every bit
as clever.

A 'queue' is a FIFO structure, a 'stack' is a LIFO structure and a
'deque' is either. Nothing could me more straightforward than a
precise meaning for every word. If you stretch the meaning of 'queue'
to cover stack and deque you lose clarity and specificity. Also, it
is a departure from the prevailing classical computer science
terminology dating back to Knuth. IMHO.

~Tom

 

[Jonathan Bromley]

On Fri, 8 Feb 2008 09:03:54 -0800 (PST),
SysTom <tjones@echelon.com> wrote:

A 'queue' is a FIFO structure, a 'stack' is a LIFO structure and a
'deque' is either.

And a SystemVerilog queue is something else again.
Maybe "queue" is an unfortunate name, but "deque"
would have been equally wrong, and is a rather silly
coinage anyway - there is *no* reasonable pronunciation
of "deque" that is unambiguous as a spoken word.
"Double-ended queue" is easy to write and to say,
and the coinage of "deque" is a typical example of
the software priesthood's attempts at exclusivity
that Mike Shepherd was justifiably bemoaning.

We are often stuck with slightly inappropriate use of
words. In SystemVerilog, a queue is a very specific
thing that is not the same as a regular queue. Hard luck.
Similarly, in the language 'e' we use the name "determinant"
for something that for decades has been known as a "tag"
or "discriminant" in software parlance. Little is lost;
it's an accident of history.

If you want a really good example of confused usage of
words, take a look at the OOP literature. Attribute,
data member, member variable? Method, member function?
Derived class, subclass, child class? I'm not terribly
excited about software people telling me that others
make confusing use of words.
--
Jonathan Bromley, Consultant

DOULOS - Developing Design Know-how
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