[Scheme-reports] Bytevectors should be called u8vectors

[Marc Feeley <feeley@x>]

Formal Comment

Submitter's name: Marc Feeley
Submitter's email: feeley at iro.umontreal.ca
Relevant draft: r7rs draft 6

Type: defect
Priority: minor
Relevant section of draft: 6.9. Bytevectors

Summary: Bytevectors should be called u8vectors

Many implementations of Scheme have adopted SRFI-4 where bytevectors
are called u8vectors, and where the procedures operating on
bytevectors have u8vector in their name.

I see no reason to introduce new names.  It will require many
implementations to implement the new names, and moreover the SRFI-4
names will have to be kept for code which uses SRFI-4.  This is
needless bloat.

The name u8vector is a very mnemonic way of expressing verbally the
external representation #u8(...) which is used by R7RS for
bytevectors.

I also find the names bytevector-u8-ref and bytevector-u8-set!
very clumsy and verbose compared to u8vector-ref and u8vector-set!.


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