←back to thread

Phrase origin: Why do we "call" functions?

(quuxplusone.github.io)
198 points todsacerdoti | 1 comments | 09 Jul 25 04:04 UTC | HN request time: 0.209s | source
Show context
skaushik92 ◴[09 Jul 25 04:37 UTC] No.44506391[source]▶
> ... but those of any complexity presumably ought to be in a library — that is, a set of magnetic tapes in which previously coded problems of permanent value are stored.

Oddly, I never thought of the term library as originating from a physical labelled and organized shelf of tapes, until now.

replies(2): >>44506527 #>>44509605 #
zabzonk ◴[09 Jul 25 05:14 UTC] No.44506527[source]▶
I've never heard of a library being called anything else - look at the common file extension .lib, for example.
replies(2): >>44509213 #>>44509686 #
eythian ◴[09 Jul 25 12:27 UTC] No.44509213[source]▶
I don't see .lib being all that common, but it might just be what I'm used to. `.so` or `.dll` or such sure (though to be fair, the latter does include the word library.)
replies(1): >>44509415 #
1. spacechild1 ◴[09 Jul 25 12:48 UTC] No.44509415[source]▶
.lib is the traditional extension for static libraries and import libraries on Windows. Every .dll has an accompanying .lib. (Msys2 uses their own extensions, namely .a for static libraries and .dll.a for import libraries.)