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string theory

The String Exposed

This week’s interview:
We ask the String what it’s like
being the world’s most eligible
datatype.

Head First: String, it’s so good of you to find the Head First: That’s a good point.
time to speak to us.
String: I like to think of myself as a front. An agent,
String: Please, the honor is mine. Sit. Sit. Make you might say, for all the characters I work with.
yourself at home. Did you eat yet?
Head First: People deal with you, so they don’t
Head First: I’m fine, thank you. String, where have to deal with individual characters in memory.
should I begin? You are known the world over for String: Exactly. I’m an organizer. I keep an eye on
your work. In your time you’ve carried the works of the day to day business of the letters. If I need to be
Shakespeare, Geothe...
shorter or longer, I arrange for the characters to be
String: Dan Brown. made available.

Head First: ...all the great works of literature. And Head First: Tell me about your substrings.
even mundane things like names and addresses. Tell String: Ah, my substrings. Like chips off the old
me, how did you become so popular?
block. That a humble datatype should be so blessed!
String: It’s a question of character. Well, characters. Head First: A tissue?
See, before I existed, computer systems used to
record text one character at a time. String: Bless you. <blows nose>. Those boys are
so close to me. Here’s a photo. Can you see the
Head First: That must have been rather resemblance?
inconvenient.
Head First: Why he looks just like...
String: Inconvenient? It was a royal pain in the
tuchis. String: Ah, you guessed! Yes, my character
sequence from 137 to 149. Exactly. Just like his old
Head First: Quite.
man. But shorter. Little more hair.
String: Without me, handling text was like riding a Head First: Your substrings are strings as well.
pedal cycle without a saddle.
String: Certainly. Strings just like me. And they, I
Head First: In what way?
hope, should one day be able to produce their own
String: It was possible to get somewhere, but the substrings as well.
journey was kind of stressful.
Head First: Yet some people are confused by your
Head First: You simplify things. indexing.
String: Certainly. I simplify. Instead of keeping String: What can I say? I started with nothing!
track of a hundred, or a thousand, or a million Head First: String, thank you.
letters, you just need keep an eye on one thing. Me!
String: A pleasure. Are you sure you ate?

48 Chapter 2