Hi, I suppose a 'mapping' or 'mapper' is right out due to the map fuction. (and would hash-table-map become map-mapping or map-mapper ?) 'Index' comes to mind,  (ie a book index associates terms, with a page number reference) Table is one of those overloaded words, and while shorter than dictionary, doesn't really tell you anything about the actual thing referred too. (table actually makes me think of database tables with named columns, dictionary is not much better) What are they called in lisp or haskell? Cheers, Stephen <div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at  10:31 PM, Matthew Flatt <<a href="mailto:mflatt@cs.utah.edu">mflatt@cs.utah.edu</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">While we're cleaning up the language in v4, we'd like to do something about the API for using hash tables:  * The names `hash-table-get' and `hash-table-put!' are long enough to   be annoying.  * The names don't follow the usual `-ref' and `-set!' covention. (I   always have trouble remembering that it's `hash-table-put!', not   `hash-table-set!'.)  * We'd like more things to have the same API, such as a dictionary   that provides constant-time functional update. Here's the current plan to deal with those problems:  * Change `hash-table-get' to `table-ref'.  * Change hash-table-put!' to `table-set!'.  * Change "hash-table" in most other function names to just "table":   `hash-table-count' -> `table-count'.  * Add some property for creating new kinds of tables. The property   value supplies an implementation for `table-ref', etc.  * Leave the name `make-hash-table' and `make-immutable-hash-table' as   they are, on the grounds that they create a specific kind of table.   Also leave the `#hash' and `#hasheq' notations alone. Keep   `hash-table?', but also add `table?'.  * Add `hash-table-set' (no "!"), which takes an table and functionally   produces an extended one. Immutable hash tables would support this   operation, and mutables one wouldn't. Note that `#hash()' and   `#hasheq()' become useful base cases for inductively building up a   table with `hash-table-set'.  * Add `table-remove', the functional complement of `table-remove!'.  * Add `for/table', which builds an immutable hash table. Since lots of `hash-table-...' functions change names in `scheme/base', this will break lots of v3.99 code. (Of course, the `mzscheme' module would export the old names.) We'd also have to pick a new name for the `table' datatype in Scribble, and no doubt in other places. It's a late in the v3.99 series to make changes like this, but tables seem important enough to do it anyway --- and important enough to favor this change over hundreds of other potential improvements that won't happen in v4. This plan is tentative, but it will happen very soon if we don't discover serious problems with it. Matthew _________________________________________________  For list-related administrative tasks:  <a href="http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme" target="_blank">http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme</a> </blockquote></div> -- Cheers, Stephen -- Stephen De Gabrielle <a href="mailto:s.degabrielle@ucl.ac.uk">s.degabrielle@ucl.ac.uk</a> Telephone +44 (0)20 7679 5242 (x45242) Mobile 079 851 890 45 Project: Making Sense of Information (MaSI) <a href="http://www.uclic.ucl.ac.uk/annb/MaSI.html">http://www.uclic.ucl.ac.uk/annb/MaSI.html</a> UCLIC: University College London Interaction Centre <a href="http://www.uclic.ucl.ac.uk/">http://www.uclic.ucl.ac.uk/</a> Remax House - 31/32 Alfred Place London - WC1E 7DP