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Phrase origin: Why do we "call" functions?

(quuxplusone.github.io)
183 points todsacerdoti | 1 comments | 09 Jul 25 04:04 UTC | HN request time: 0.393s | source
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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 #
1. empath75 ◴[09 Jul 25 13:16 UTC] No.44509686[source]▶
It's not _that_ they are called libraries, but _why_ they are called libraries. I had assumed, like many others that it was purely by analogy (ie, a desktop), and not that the term originated with a physical library of tapes.