cvs commit: src/sys/fs/msdosfs msdosfs_vfsops.c

[Bruce M. Simpson]

Robert Watson wrote:
>
> 'iff' was definitely part of my formal education in three fields 
> during my undergraduate career in the US -- mathematics, computer 
> science, philosophy, and logic.  It's used as an abbreviation for a 
> longer term which addresses an ambiguity in English, hence its 
> popularity with the above classes of scientists and engineers.  I've 
> seen it used fairly extensively in computer science training here in 
> the UK as well.

I agree with Robert on this one -- and have also been picked up for 
introducing 'iff' to code comments by non-native English speakers who 
were confused by it.

To avoid confusion, we should probably add a note to style(9) about 
this, it is a useful idiom in technical language, and has a specific 
meaning in logic:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_and_only_if

I recommend we "i.f.f." ie deliberately periodize its use outside of 
mathematics and logic; this is a common use; if the strict use is 
needed, use '<=>' in comments. There's no 7-bit ASCII glyph for iff 
which is another problem.

regards
BMS