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From: Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se>
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Subject: Re: etymology of obarray
Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 19:57:35 +0200
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Joe Riel <joer@san.rr.com> writes:

> Where does the word obarray originate?  What is "ob"?

Object, perhaps? Just a guess, but if you are
interested in the obarray in general I remember asking
about it way back - because as I recall, the
documentation was cryptic to say the least - and there
were some very advanced replies, as I remember. So hit
the archives, look for Emanuel Berg and "obarray" in
the Subject header. Report back everything you learn :)

As I recall, the obarray is a data structure (some kind
of hash table) to store stuff dynamically (i.e., not
just in memory) so that you can filter and do stuff
with it - for example, to provide the set of operands
possible after you invoke a command.

-- 
underground experts united:
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573