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From: James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: question about linker
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2024 20:31:20 -0500
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On 12/12/24 15:27, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
> On 12.12.2024 20:39, James Kuyper wrote:
>> On 12/12/24 00:07, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
....
>>> Personally I'd colloquially take both those terms as the same thing,
>>> but I'm not a native speaker.
>>
>> They are not.
>> The C standard does not define the term "name space", relying instead
>> upon the general CS definition of the term. However, it has a whole
>> section (6.2.3) devoted to listing and explaining the name spaces that
>> are relevant to the C language.
>>
>> In C++, "namespace" is a both a keyword (listed in 5.11p3) and a piece
>> of terminology (defined in 9.8p1) for the feature enabled by that
>> keyword. It is clear from those descriptions that a C++ namespace is
>> significantly different thing from a C name space.
>> Unlike the C standard, the C++ standard doesn't even bother explaining
>> name spaces. It makes only two uses of that term on it's own behalf, in
>> connection with statement labels and macro names - neither usage has any
>> plausible connection with a namespace. There are several occurrences of
>> "name space" in the section describing the differences between C and
>> C++, which make it clear that both standards are using the same meaning
>> for "name space", but that the two languages have a different number of
>> name spaces, with different contents.
>
> You seem to be speaking about terms in different standards while
> I spoke about "colloquially", the meaning of an expression named
> "name space", or "name-space", or "namespace" (whatever is the
> correct writing in English would be; note my hint about native
> speakers). - So, now, have we two been speaking cross-purpose?

Probably. It is never a good idea to use a term colloquially if that
term has a well-defined meaning that applies in the relevant context
which is significantly different from the colloquial meaning. Such usage
inevitably results in confusion.

> Note that Scott in his post wrote
>
> In C++ they reside in the ordinary name space only if they're not
> part of a named namespace.
>
> which I interpreted as
>
> In C++ they reside in the ordinary "name space" only if they're not
> part of a named 'namespace'.
>
> where "name space" would be the [colloquial] name of the concept
> behind the symbol 'namespace'.
>
> My interpretation of his post was that he wanted to differentiate
> the default 'namespace' from the "named 'namespace'". (And that
> the three types of "Name Spaces" (that you had in mind) were not
> his concern with his remark.)

That is a true statement about namespaces, and completely irrelevant to
anything I was trying to say about name spaces.

He said that in response to my comment, which was supposed to be:

"In C struct, union, and enumeration tags have their own name space, in
C++ they reside in the ordinary name space."

However, I just noticed that, in my message as I actually posted it, I
accidentally replaced the first occurrence of "name space" in that
sentence with "namespace". Nothing in that sentence was intended to be
about namespaces; it was entirely about name spaces. Does that clear up
any confusion?