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reubenhwk
11-12-2003, 08:18 AM
Why is it in programming books they always have a function or variable called FOO?
soconne
11-12-2003, 08:45 AM
fun oriented object
reubenhwk
11-12-2003, 09:08 AM
Are you sure?
Coconut
11-12-2003, 09:11 AM
Foo means different things in different places.
Here, foo means "Forum - OpenGL Only"
Foxbat
11-12-2003, 09:38 AM
Simply for geek historical reasons.

I beleve 'foo' is short from 'foobar' which is really 'FUBAR' which means " 'fouled' up beyond all recognition."

A cousin of SNAFU "situation normal all 'fouled' up."

I think the terms originated in the military but most would agree they are pertinent to coding.
rgpc
11-12-2003, 07:20 PM
Originally posted by Coconut:
Foo means different things in different places.
Here, foo means "Forum - OpenGL Only"


Very good. http://www.opengl.org/discussion_boards/ubb/biggrin.gif
foobar
11-15-2003, 03:10 PM
The word has a long and interesting history
http://www.faqs.org/docs/jargon/F/foo.html

The most geeky description I have found is that a 'foo' was a spurious electronic signal and a foobar was the inverted/complement signal.