The 'else' keyword is probably a literal translation from German (2020) (github.com)

> The 'else' keyword is probably a literal translation from German (2020)

is editorialised, inaccurate, and very misleading.

The actual title: “if … then … else had to be invented!”

And the content doesn’t say anything about it being a literal translation from German; rather:

> What they do say is that this document was originally written in German and hastily translated into English. I think a carefully-chosen German word was probably translated as an archaic English word and then never revisited.

Wild speculation, and definitely nothing about literality of translation.

As for the author’s description of it being archaic, well, I’d call that misleading too. Bare “else”, arguably (definitely not colloquial in most dialects), but as “or else”, perfectly current.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me that someone considered the options, decided “otherwise”, “or else” too wordy and confusing in its own way, and so settled on bare “else” as the best choice (which I think it is), not how people mostly speak, but perfectly legitimate, and concise.

(In other words: I think we’d have settled on “else” even without the possible German step. This too is speculation, of course.)

Else If would also be a possible name in Denmark.

But, according to Statistics Denmark[1], none of those combinations exists:

Women with the first name 'Else' 13,047 Men and women with the last name 'True' 166 No one has the name 'Else True'

Women with the first name 'Else' 13,047 Men and women with the last name 'If' 6 No one has the name 'Else If'

[1] https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/hvor-man...

- https://aloneonahill.com/blog/if-php-were-british/#:~:text=E...

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33828509

"Take your coat or else you'll regret it."

"Hurry or else you'll miss the bus."

Etc.

> if something is true, then do a thing, else do a different thing.

> That's just English, right? Except that it isn't

No, it is English, grammatically correct English. It's not idiomatic English but it's a perfectly fine sentence otherwise.

Idiomatic English would simply require adding an or

    if(x)
        do m
    orelseif(y)
        do n
    orelse
        do o

> I think a carefully-chosen German word was probably translated as an archaic English word and then never revisited

This is a weird reach. Else isn't an archaic word.

"Eat your dinner or else."

"If you don't do it someone else will have to."

Plus all the "or else" conjunction examples.

It was probably chosen because it was shorter than "otherwise" and not for any other reason.

Else, adverb or conjunction

1. Besides; except that mentioned; in addition; as, nowhere else; no one else.

2. Otherwise; in the other, or the contrary, case; if the facts were different.

“For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it.” – Ps. li. 16.

After ‘or’, else is sometimes used expletively, as simply noting an alternative. “Will you give thanks, … or else shall I?” – Shak.

sure you can. who's going to stop you?

I was going to mention the MAD language by Bernard Galler et. al. that used whenever/otherwise, which I encountered in a book in the local library back in the days when everyone was coming up with "structured" programming languages, but then I scrolled to the bottom of the article ...

"We'd better hurry, else we'll be late", or "I could go to a pub, else we can just stay home" is exactly the correct UK usage.

I guess the UK largely isn't up yet, hence this sort of comment missing.

Funny enough, even though I know if/then/else by heart for decades now, I also spent a few seconds comprehending that 1960 arrow diagram of ALGOL60...

"He had never seen dogs fight as these wolfish creatures fought, and his first experience taught him an unforgetable lesson. It is true, it was a vicarious experience, else he would not have lived to profit by it."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/else#Conjunction

There's also "or else", as made famous in crime dramas: "Meet me by the docks at midnight. Bring the money. Come alone. No cops... or else!" But in other usage it can of course be followed by something. "He had to get to work on time, or else he might be fired."

Or if this other thing were to be true, then bar.

If it’s something else, then baz.

He wrote Either/Or or Enten – Eller in Danish in 1843.

Else in Danish is Ellers.

Ive always assumed it was effectively "otherwise" but shortened to "or else" -> "else".

Given the alternative to use "or" as the first pushback I feel that acts as confirmation. I prefer else because "or" has implications in boolean and bitwise logic that else doesn't.

Why not { } instead of begin and end?

def or fn over function/lambda (or just () => now)

Symbols are confusing at first but become practical after a bit

About TFA: Also 'if/or' would make people confuse logical or with bitwise or, so I guess that's why it was eschewed

Fixed!