CompuServe Messages

Luciano, The word "foo" is used to denote any function, program, variable, etc. when describing, or demonstrating a piece of code. You'll also see "bar" used in the same way. Those terms' origins are deep in the history of the computer, just as the word "bug" is deeply rooted in computer history. Way back when, things easily got out of hand and became FUBAR (cleaned up…that is an acronym for Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition <I'll let you figure what got cleaned up>) and verbaly…that translates to "foobar". Programs thus were "foobar" so must have consisted of "foo" and "bar". The usage of "foo" and "bar" slowly became generic for anything in a program when trying to explain it or demonstrate a usage, etc. Don p.s. The history of "bug" came from way back where computers took up whole rooms, had lots of tubes and generated tons of heat. When something would go wrong…it wasn't at all uncommon to find an insect (literaly…fly, moth, or what have you) who got fried and shorted a circuit. Thus, if something wasn't working right…there was a "bug" in it.