# The worst notational abuse

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Tommy McGuire
Labels: theory, notation, books

I have lately been reading Programming Distributed Computing Systems: A Foundational Approach, by Carlos A. Varela, and so far been fairly impressed. The presentation has been clear, and the topics (the $$\pi$$ calculus, actors, the join calculus, and mobile ambients) are things that I probably should already know more about than I do. But it has reminded me of the worst abuse of notation I am aware of, in theoretical computer science.

In the $$\pi$$ calculus, computation occurs by processes exchanging messages across channels. Creating a channel (roughly the equivalent of introducing a new variable in a $$\lambda$$ expression in that calculus) is done with the syntax:

$$(\nu c)P$$

where $$c$$ is the new channels's name and $$P$$ is the remainder of the process, where $$c$$ is bound.

What is the Greek letter $$\nu$$? Nu. New $$c$$, geddit?

Sigh.

Site proudly generated by Hakyll.