[Lazarus] Error messages: cannot versus can't

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Reinier Olislagers wrote:
> Dealing with error messages, I remember reading somewhere that
> contractions like cannot=>can't are discouraged, so e.g.
> 
> Can't find file bla.txt.
> 
> should become
> 
> Cannot find file bla.txt
> 
> Have other people seen this? I'd appreciate links to relevant info.

Wearing my "native English speaker" hat, a part of the problem is that 
many of the traditional rules derive from the Victorian Era but were 
critiqued by Fowler in "Modern English Usage"... which despite being 
published in 1926 is still treated by many as the ultimate reference.

Considering your particular example, I'd suggest that the manual should 
be written as "If the compiler cannot find", but that compiler messages 
which are basically declamatory may lean towards the spoken contraction 
"Can't find suchandsuch". This also has the advantage that it keeps the 
fixed part of error messages comparatively short, allowing more space 
(per acre) for information on paths etc.

However, the overriding consideration is that many users of development 
tools will select English as the working language, even if it is not the 
language that they are most comfortable with. I'd suggest that the 
"bottom line" is that if somebody such as yourself finds the more formal 
"cannot" more intelligible than the "can't" contraction, then that's the 
one to use. Or, of course, vice versa.

-- 
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]