this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
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I've been a software engineer for almost 20 years now. 'A', at index 0*, is the first thing in the array.
* well, unless you're using some language that actually is not zero-indexed. I think LUA is one?
That's because you use English, a language where ordinals traditionally begin at one.
So, based on
You're saying I can't be a programmer because I speak English?
Calling index zero the first is correct, but risks misunderstandings such as in the op comic
That is why many call index zero the zeroth index
No, what I said is true if you use zero-based numbering. But when communicating with others in English, the label "first" refers to the element with the smallest index. In zero-based numbering, the label "zeroth" refers to the element with the lowest index. It's just not the default in English, but you can definitely use zero-based numbering in English if you're willing to edit the configuration files.