[R] Does "sink" stand for anything?

[David Winsemius]

On Apr 15, 2010, at 5:12 PM, Paul Miller wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> Learning about R and its wonderful array of functions. If it's not  
> obvious, I usually try to find out what a function stands for. I  
> think this helps me remember better.
>
> One function that has me stumped is "sink." Can anyone tell me if  
> this stands for something?

In the kitchen, a sink is the place you put the dishes in. In  
electronics, a sink is where the electrons go after they have made  
their way through the circuitry  ... also known as a "ground", whereas  
"sources" are the current inputs. There were a lot of EE types among  
the original cadre of computer scientitsts. In the NIXen class of  
OSes, there is a "pipe" operation, and I believe that the destination  
file or device is probably called a "sink" by some. This leads me to  
think that a hybrid argot of plumbing and circuitry analogies is the  
likely origin of the term.

>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>


David Winsemius, MD
West Hartford, CT