Foobar

For other uses, see Foobar (disambiguation)}}}.

Foobar is a common placeholder name used in computer programming. It has been described as "the association of two metasyntactic variables: foo and bar". These variables are often used in computer programming examples.

Etymology

Most likely, "foo" and "bar" were derived from "foobar", which in turn had its origins in the military slang acronym FUBAR (q.v.). There is some support for the idea that the "foo" part of the word predated "FUBAR".

It is also possible that foobar is a phonological interpretation of the first letters of the Runic alphabet. Like Qwerty and Abcde, this expression might have attracted various computer programmers. In a museum at Aarhus, there is a large wooden bar with the runic enscription f u þ a r, where fu is pronounced like foo. However, the letter þ is actually pronounced like an unvoiced th, not a b (hence the name Futhark for the Runic alphabet).#redirect .

External links

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