zen.org Communal Weblog

When citing something in the ISO C++ Standard, or many other such standards, there’s a common notation shared for email or quick notes. Sometimes it looks like “$5.4/2”, “5.4p2”, and others use “$5.4(2)” or even “5.4.2.1.3”. Anyway, a reference like “$5.4.1” often means “Clause 5, Section 4, Paragraph 1”. Or even “Section 5.4, paragraph 1”.

Clause 5 happens to be titled “Expressions”. While looking for something else, I came across a great post someone made trying to explain this odd notation:

> What does 5.7p6 mean?
Section 5.7, paragraph 6.
Alternatively, The Book of Expressions, chapter 7, verse 6.
...
> {It's the C++ Standard, which for C++ programmers is pretty close to the
>  'Bible' -mod/fwg}

Heh.