If you want X, you know where to find it.

<exclamation>

There is a legend that Dennis Ritchie, inventor of C, once responded to demands for features resembling those of what at the time was a much more popular language by observing "If you want PL/I, you know where to find it." Ever since, this has been hackish standard form for fending off requests to alter a new design to mimic some older (and, by implication, inferior and baroque) one. The case X = Pascal manifests semi-regularly on Usenet's comp.lang.c newsgroup. Indeed, the case X = X has been reported in discussions of graphics software (see X Window System).

[Jargon File]

Last updated: 1995-10-25

Nearby terms:

IFS ♦ IFX ♦ If you want X, you know where to find it. ♦ IGC ♦ IGES ♦ IGL

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