Re: [xsl] except (was: Keys with duplicates should be simple)

[Wolfgang Laun <wolfgang.laun@xxxxxxxxx>]

Nobody says "five difference three". I'd have thought that "minus" would
be a "natural".

@Ihe: Very likely the word "difference" could make some worry whether
it means  the symmetric set difference.

@Michael Your concern about non-programmers is very nice. But if they
are non-programmers they could at least learn or should have learned
the simple mathematical concepts. No reason to avoid mathematical
concepts, is there? ;-)

Cheers
Wolfgang

On 03/02/2014, Ihe Onwuka <ihe.onwuka@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 8:16 AM, Michael Kay <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> On 3 Feb 2014, at 07:18, Ihe Onwuka <ihe.onwuka@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> If indeed except is equivalent to the set-theoretic difference
>>> operator would it be beyond the pale to admit difference into the
>>> syntax as a synonym for except.
>>>
>>
>> You haven't answered my post in which I attempted to show that the XPath
>> usage of "except" was consistent with the natural language use of the
>> term.
>>
>
> To me the natural language interpretation of except has the RHS of the
> except interpreted within the context of the LHS. If you are talking
> natural language - natural language interpretations don't allow for
> XPath abbreviations and if I read you rightly you are saying this
> would be natural if you allow for the effect of XPath abbreviations.
>
>> I think that using "difference" would confuse an awful lot of people who
>> would assume, without reading the spec, that it meant magnitude difference
>> (e.g. subtract, or date difference).
>>
>
> Well thats a problem of applying a mathematical construct outside of a
> mathematical domain, hence why I suggested the difference as
> alternative syntax  to keep both sides happy (if indeed they are the
> same thing).
>
> I worked at an investment bank before going to university and never
> did A levels  so I walked into my first Calculus class thinking that a
> derivative was a financial instrument and a slope was something you
> skied on. It is not feasible or desirable to go through life clinging
> on to
> these non-mathematical interpretations.