Thread: Indices or Indexes

Indices or Indexes

From
Justin Clift
Date:
Hi guys,

Just noticed that Section 7.2 of the Users Guide (devel docs) is called
"Indexes".  I was under the impression the "correct" terminology should
be "Indices".

Now I'm really unsure, as I imagine a *lot* of people have already
looked at this.  Should it be changed?

:-)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
   - Indira Gandhi

Re: Indices or Indexes

From
Vince Vielhaber
Date:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2002, Justin Clift wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> Just noticed that Section 7.2 of the Users Guide (devel docs) is called
> "Indexes".  I was under the impression the "correct" terminology should
> be "Indices".
>
> Now I'm really unsure, as I imagine a *lot* of people have already
> looked at this.  Should it be changed?

Check the hackers archives.  I don't recall how long ago but it was
discussed [I would guess] in the last year.  A search for indices or
indicies should find it.

Vince.
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Re: Indices or Indexes

From
Peter Eisentraut
Date:
Justin Clift writes:

> Just noticed that Section 7.2 of the Users Guide (devel docs) is called
> "Indexes".  I was under the impression the "correct" terminology should
> be "Indices".

It's "indexes" for a database index, and "indices" for an array index.  At
least that's what some big dictionary once revealed to us.

--
Peter Eisentraut   peter_e@gmx.net


Re: Indices or Indexes

From
Justin Clift
Date:
Hi Peter,

Cool.  Thanks for the info, I'll make sure to get it right from here on.

:-)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift


Peter Eisentraut wrote:
>
> Justin Clift writes:
>
> > Just noticed that Section 7.2 of the Users Guide (devel docs) is called
> > "Indexes".  I was under the impression the "correct" terminology should
> > be "Indices".
>
> It's "indexes" for a database index, and "indices" for an array index.  At
> least that's what some big dictionary once revealed to us.
>
> --
> Peter Eisentraut   peter_e@gmx.net

--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
   - Indira Gandhi

Re: Indices or Indexes

From
Tom Lane
Date:
Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:
> Justin Clift writes:
>> Just noticed that Section 7.2 of the Users Guide (devel docs) is called
>> "Indexes".  I was under the impression the "correct" terminology should
>> be "Indices".

> It's "indexes" for a database index, and "indices" for an array index.  At
> least that's what some big dictionary once revealed to us.

I argued that the OED could be taken to say that, and people seemed to
be willing to accept it:

http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2001-04/msg00029.php

The docs we inherited from Berkeley mostly use "indices", but we've been
trying to convert over.

            regards, tom lane