Naming of Array support functions (remaining: IsArrayBegin IsArrayEnd)

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Revision 90 (r90) is a version of a patch by Tim Blechmann to support 
SuperCollider arrays.

https://code.google.com/p/oscpack/source/detail?r=90

I have already tweaked the naming of symbols and functions relative to Tim's 
version. 

* The sentinel variables used to begin and end streaming an array have been 
renamed BeginArray and EndArray to harmonise with BeginMessage etc. Usage: 

ps << BeginMessage("/msg") << BeginArray << 1 << 2 << 3 << EndArray << 
EndMessage;

* The function to count the number of elements in the array is called 
ArrayItemCount(), this is consistent with ReceivedBundle::ElementCount(). I am 
not particularly fond of the fact that ArrayItemCount is O(n). Maybe it would 
be better to name it ComputeArrayItemCount().

* The tag constants are called ARRAY_START_TYPE_TAG and ARRAY_END_TYPE_TAG, 
perhaps ARRAY_START_TYPE_TAG should be called ARRAY_BEGIN_TYPE_TAG (another 
option is ARRAY_OPEN_TYPE_TAG and ARRAY_CLOSE_TYPE_TAG)

* We currently have IsArrayStart() and IsArrayEnd()

I'm not very convinced about having ~Start~ and ~Begin~. The meanings and usage 
are slightly different but I would prefer more consistency.

Also note that the other Is* functions in this context concern argument values 
but array begin and end are not values.

Another option:

ARRAY_BEGIN_MARKER_TYPE_TAG 
ARRAY_END_MARKER_TYPE_TAG
IsArrayBeginMarker()
IsArrayEndMarker()

Usually I would try to lift terminology from the OSC spec but I don't think it 
mentions arrays.

Thoughts?

Original issue reported on code.google.com by ross.bencina on 4 Mar 2013 at 9:01

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naming: the osc1.0 specs talk about `begin` and `end` (array boundaries are 
optional type tags). so it would be reasonable to use that. adding `Marker` ... 
not sure if it increases the expressive power of the API, but i'm not a native 
speaker

computing element count: probably a good idea to add `Compute' to the name.

Original comment by tim.klin...@gmail.com on 4 Mar 2013 at 9:59

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I've updated SVN as follows:
ARRAY_BEGIN_TYPE_TAG, ARRAY_END_TYPE_TAG
IsArrayBegin(), IsArrayEnd()
ComputeArrayItemCount()

As a native speaker I'm not entirely happy with IsArrayBegin/End but it's an 
improvement. I'm going to sleep on it.

Original comment by ross.bencina on 4 Mar 2013 at 10:23

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I'm still struggling :

For now we have IsArrayBegin, IsArrayEnd for now. These have the advantage of 
starting with IsArray...  and ArrayBegin seems more like a noun for Is than 
BeginArray.

Some alternatives:

IsBeginArray -- Pro: BeginArray used elsewhere, Con: doesn't start with Array
IsBeginningOfArray -- Pro: reads well, in line with wording of spec, Con: 
semantics unclear (it's a pseudo argument that marks the beginning of an array, 
not actually the beginning of an array)
IsBeginningOfArrayTag -- ambiguous
IsBeginArrayMarker -- OK
IsBeginArrayTag -- OK but we don't use Tag anywhere else but it's a type tag

Original comment by ross.bencina on 6 Mar 2013 at 7:16

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Original comment by ross.bencina on 6 Mar 2013 at 7:17

• Changed title: Naming of Array support functions (remaining: IsArrayBegin IsArrayEnd)

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Closing. What we have is good enough.

Original comment by ross.bencina on 26 Mar 2013 at 9:37

• Changed state: Fixed