Conference thebay::joyoflex

445.0. "Literal numbers" by DELNI::CANTOR (Dave C.) Thu Nov 26 1987 20:23

      When I learned algebra, way back in junior high school, a number
      whose value was represented by a letter was called a 'literal
      number.'  Thus, the equation
      
             y = x + 3
      
      has two literal numbers; _viz._, x and y.   The numeral '3'
      is also a number, of course, but it is not a literal number.
      
      With the advent of computer programming languages, a symbolic
      string whose form implied its value was called a literal, or
      a literal string.   In COBOL, for example, there are numeric
      literals and non-numeric literals.   The COBOL statement
      
             COMPUTE Y = X + 3
      
      contains a numeric literal.
      
      I believe that the '3' in the COBOL statement is properly called
      a numeric literal (short for 'numeric literal string'?), but
      I've recently heard it referred to as a literal number.
      
      Another sad case of a precise term losing its precision by
      being used to denote something entirely different, in this
      case, the "opposite" of its original meaning.
      
      sigh
      
      Dave C.
      

    Perhaps you should raise it in the TLE::LANGUAGES notes file. However,
    terminology varies from one language to another. I seem to recall
    that "manifest constant" was an in-vogue term in the UK some years
    ago.

    Manifest constants are alive and well in C programs, at least.

    That's because it's derived from BCPL!