Why boolean variable is called boolean and not something else?

[vimal]

Hi,

This blog is a token of respect for someone who created boolean algebra.

While going through book(Alogrithms to Liveby: The computer Science of human decisions by Brian Christian) and read about boolean variable , So thought to create a small blog for it. I'm not sure how many of the developers know about it because i was not aware of it atleast..

Boolean name is derived from mathematician, George Boole who created Boolean algebra , where the value of true is 1 and the value of false is 0 and that is what is used in almost all programming languages today.

So thanks to George Boole !

Conclusion:  We might be using lot of variables and logics and those might have been driven by someone whom we don't know. So as and when we come to know about those unsung hereos , we should admire those people and effort it took them to find it at very first time.

 

 

Thanks,

Vimal

[thkolz]

Every programmer should know this! I learned it at the beginning of my studies…

[shais]

I thought it was George XSDBoole.. 😛

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

Yeah, it is literally in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_data_type

I understand your sentiment but "this is a blog that could've been a tweet" (or LI  or Facebook or Reddit post).  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[vimal]

There's everything in wikipedia but there are lot of people who don't read wikipedia...they look for technical answers on SDN and that's it ! So if it adds to their knowledge...what's the harm ?

[Marian_Zeis]

jelena.perfiljeva

I am undecided.

Should I continue to try to write good blog posts with quality content or use the SAP community blog posts as an alternative to Twitter from now on?

Apparently that is tolerated here.

[vimal]

you can alert the moderator if you want...

[matt]

It could have been a tweet, then I'd have missed it. I don't see a problem with short blogs - unless there's tweet.sap.com for such things.

[matt]

I learned about it before I learned anything about computers - somewhere in my maths classes. 🙂

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

My POV is there is the right tool for every job. When I come to SAP Community blog posts, I usually expect the posts to have more "meat on the bone" than "oh hey, I learned a random trivia fact today". Maybe it's just me. I don't mean to police the content here (or anywhere) but there are so many platforms out there that cater to this type of content. So I just really see no point in bringing this to SAP Community too. It's one of those "if you can, doesn't mean you should" things. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And I'm definitely hugely disappointed the author did not even bother to make a single joke about ABAP not having a boolean type. That's clearly a missed opportunity. 🙂

P.S. If SAP Community leadership wants to encourage these types of blog posts, I think it would be fair to introduce the concept of "shorts", like on YT.

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

Sorry, this logic "they look for technical answers on SDN and that's it" seems flawed. What data source is it based on? If you look at the 2023 dev survey results, SAP professionals visit many other websites.

If you feel like posting these tidbits on SAP Community is a great idea, that's your prerogative. But I suspect you'll get mixed feedback on this because usually a bit more content is expected from a typical SAP Community blog post. At the same time, people on LinkedIn would gobble up this type of content and you'd be swimming in likes and connection requests. So I'd urge you to reconsider the choice of platform.

Thank you.

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

I've just added this in a response to another comment below, copy-pasting here for visibility:

"If SAP Community leadership wants to encourage these types of blog posts, I think it would be fair to introduce the concept of "shorts", like on YT."

This would spare the readers like myself who open a blog post (from RSS feed) hoping for Paul Hardy's (or yours 🙂 ) level writing from disappointment while allowing the authors who are interested in it to drop posts like this one. Ideally, the two content types then could be filterable, so that the readers can chose based on their preference.

For example, LI has short posts and longer articles. So both authors and readers can pick the best way to share.

[Marian_Zeis]

I agree with Jelena here.

Every content has the right platform.
There are also plenty of shorter blog posts in the SAP community, but these are mostly specific SAP knowledge due to a certain task.
I don't see short content of general information here.

I write my blog posts as I see fit here.
Others write differently.
It is the job of the moderators to set a guideline.
Currently, this guideline is very vague and interpretable but I assume for now that the content does not violate it.

[matt]

We need shorts.sap.com

[vimal]

Sorry, your logic is flawed, All professionals look for all websites(from wherever they can get input regarding their queries).

It might be tidbits for you but i see that you were also not aware of this fact. After reading it you googled it and got wikipedia.

People on Linkedin or anywhere would gobble it or not that's none of anyone's business and if i would need likes only i would know much better platforms to get it. So i request you to look for different perspective..

[vimal]

If you don't see short content of general information that doen't mean no one should write it. That's false understanding.

A SAP blog can fit in other websites as well. SDN is not the only website for SAP.

So i have written it wherever i could but if you don't find it interesting....that's ok..

 

 

[vimal]

My POV is to highlight whatever i read and gained(i should put it for everyone). Whether it is trival for someone or not....that's doen't matter to me.

[Marian_Zeis]

Good point. SAP content can fit on other websites as well.
But this is not a specific SAP content.
This is more like a Linkedin post as Jelena said because it is very generic ( not SAP) .
Different platforms, different content.
And I don't see this kind of content here.

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

I'm confused... Now you seem to be changing your statements and saying that my logic is flawed...

But in any case, there seems to be a perception that unless something does harm, it is beneficial. It doesn't really work that way. The feedback that this post is getting is not that the content is necessarily bad or harmful. It just doesn't seem to be the best fit to share in this form and on this platform.

I feel like the view "I will just share whatever I like whenever I like and others need to deal with it" is rather egocentric. As an author, I would try to think of the readers and consider what would be the best form and place for the readers to receive what I'm trying to share. As Marian correctly noted, since this is an SAP website, most of the readers here would be looking for SAP-themed posts.

There definitely have been very short posts before but those were quick SAP tips. There have also been many posts on non-SAP subjects but those are usually longer and authors put a lot of thought into them. They share their life experience or advice. But sadly, this post is neither.

Unfortunately, there isn't any good or structured way to filter content on SAP Community. I use RSS feed that gives me a list of blog posts by subject. What do you think will happen if everyone will start creating such posts every day on random subjects?

Again, this is not to "gatekeep" anyone from sharing but once again, consider what is best, more appropriate for the readers and community at large.

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

Which would be perfect because then I could easily exclude it from my searches. 🙂

[vimal]

Yes, this is generic content for developers of any programming language. So it can be part of any technical platform.

[vimal]

you can still ignore it even after reading it. you just need that conviction..

[vimal]

Your feel of "I will just share whatever i like whenever i like and other's need to deal with it" is some sort of correct . I will share everything which i faced whether it's trival or big . Platforms like SDN are there to solve or gain knowledge for every complexity. Now, the "deal"  part is something individual and if you feel like it's not for you like in this case you were not  aware of it but still you think it's so trival that it should not be here , so that's a problem of individual. 

There are many such blogs which are not relevant to me and i don't go and write that this should not be the platform for those blogs.

Also, length of blogs is immaterial. If a person has written 10k line of blog , does it become relevant automatically ? Short and long is immaterial....what matters is value addition.

Also your view  of the fact that this is not related to SAP is flawed, it's very much relevant to SAP folks . Aren't we using boolean variables?

Regarding ego...it's on both sides, my ego is why it's trival and even if it's trival why it's not relevant for SAP ? and your ego is why such a basic information(which i was not aware) , is published by someone so casually ?

Lastly, on your concern of what if people start creating posts every day on random subjects(though i don't think it's random subject) - This platform will be very useful in that case because trival problems and random subjects are difficult to find or solve.

Again, nothing against anyone but i want everyone to share everything how basic it is and make this platform truly a developer's platform.

[BaerbelWinkler]

Just to add my 2 cents: the OP could have been posted in the Coffee Corner Group as an alternative.

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

Good suggestion. I forgot all about it. Definitely best place for any random thoughts, even if non-SAP related.