[very common; historically, `according to religious law'] The usual
or standard state or manner of something. This word has a somewhat
more technical meaning in mathematics. Two formulas such as 9 + x and
x + 9 are said to be equivalent because they mean the same thing, but
the second one is in canonical form because it is written in the
usual way, with the highest power of x first. Usually there are fixed
rules you can use to decide whether something is in canonical form.
The jargon meaning, a relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired
its present loading in computer-science culture largely through its
prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and
mathematical logic (see {Knights of the Lambda Calculus}). Compare
{vanilla}.
Non-technical academics do not use the adjective `canonical' in any
of the senses defined above with any regularity; they do however use
the nouns canon and canonicity (not **canonicalness or
**canonicality). The canon of a given author is the complete body of
authentic works by that author (this usage is familiar to Sherlock
Holmes fans as well as to literary scholars). `The canon' is the body
of works in a given field (e.g., works of literature, or of art, or
of music) deemed worthwhile for students to study and for scholars to
investigate.
The word `canon' has an interesting history. It derives ultimately
from the Greek kanon (akin to the English `cane') referring to a
reed. Reeds were used for measurement, and in Latin and later Greek
the word `canon' meant a rule or a standard. The establishment of a
canon of scriptures within Christianity was meant to define a
standard or a rule for the religion. The above non-techspeak academic
usages stem from this instance of a defined and accepted body of
work. Alongside this usage was the promulgation of `canons' (`rules')
for the government of the Catholic Church. The techspeak usages
("according to religious law") derive from this use of the Latin
`canon'.
Hackers invest this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic
contrast with its historical meaning. A true story: One Bob Sjoberg,
new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed some annoyance at the incessant use
of jargon. Over his loud objections, GLS and RMS made a point of
using as much of it as possible in his presence, and eventually it
began to sink in. Finally, in one conversation, he used the word
canonical in jargon-like fashion without thinking. Steele: "Aha!
We've finally got you talking jargon too!" Stallman: "What did he
say?" Steele: "Bob just used `canonical' in the canonical way."
Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly
defined as the way hackers normally expect things to be. Thus, a
hacker may claim with a straight face that `according to religious
law' is not the canonical meaning of canonical.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {brute force}{bubble sort}{cat}{condition out}{crufty}{flatten}{hot spot}{I didn't change anything!}{killer micro}{metasyntactic variable}{real time}{That's not a bug, that's a feature!}{This time, for sure!}{vanilla}{xyzzy}]