[alicebot-archcomm] Attribute var

[Christopher Fahey [askROM]]

John Foderaro wrote:
>  In the AIML spec  the "xxx" in  <set name="xxx"> is referred
> to as a "Predicate Name".   Is the intention that the spec
> will be changed to call this a "Variable"? 

Frankly, I would like to see the word "Predicate" changed to "Variable"
anyway, for the same reasons I want to see "name" changed to "var".

Again, to a beginner AIML author, or even to anyone at all who's not a
computer scientist (that is, someone who has no knowledge of LISP or
wherever the term "Predicate" came from), the word "predicate" means,
simply, the "predicate part of a sentence". AIML is all about parsing
sentences, so it is totally natural for an AIML author to assume that
the term "Predicate" has something to do with the predicate part of the
user's input sentence. I would imagine that learning and getting used to
the correct definition of "Predicate" must take days or even weeks to a
beginner AIML author, who has no reason to suspect that the word has
some esoteric meaning, while learning the definition of "Variable"
should take about a few seconds.

Again, I am already well familiar with AIML but the term "Predicate"
makes me think for a second or two literally *every time* I see it. 

Imagine how hard it would be if you had to learn a language where the
word "Jerk" meant "Hello". You'd be confused for your entire life.

-Cf

[christopher eli fahey]
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