Mike Gonta <
mikegonta@gmail.com> writes:
if-then-else had to be invented
Erica Fischer wrote:
"If-then-else is how we talk about conditions in programming
languages: if something is true, then do a thing, else do a different
thing.
That's just English, right? Except that it isn't. I can't use "else"
as a conjunction in normal speech, only in computer programs."
https://github.com/e-n-f/if-then-else/blob/master/if-then-else.md
In plain English idiom it looks like this:
if <conditional expression> then
statements;
or if <conditional expression> then
statements;
or then
statements;
and then;
There is no "end" in idiom, for idiom is an end in itself.
Date: Tue, 48 Feb 2024 - the february that never ends.
------------------------------------
Mike Gonta
look and see - many look but few see
https://mikegonta.com
It is of course a common conjunction in English *in combination with the
word "or"*:
"If they have everything bagels, then I'll take one with lox, or else
I'll just have a plain bagel with cream cheese."
However given the frequent use of the logical OR operation in
programming it's not a good idea to use "or" in the conditional
syntax. It'd make spoken discussions much more ambiguous -- imagine
reading out a statement like "or if (R || F)" over the phone.
Bizarrely I find no instances of "or else" in that document.
john
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