kees@dutinfd.UUCP (Kees Pronk) (03/23/89)
I hope you don't get this more than once, but here it goes:
The origin of P and V is explained in:
Andrews G.R. and Schneider F.B.
Concepts and Notions for Concurrent Programming
Computing Surveys, Vol. 15, No 1, March 1983, page 12, footnote
The footnote says:
P is the first letter of the Dutch word "passeren", which means "to pass";
V is the first letter of "vrijgeven", the Dutch word for "to release"
[Dijkstra 1981b].
Reflecting on the definitions of P and V, Dijkstra and his group observed
the P might better stand for "prolagen" formed from the Dutch words
"proberen" (meaning "to try") and "verlagen" (meaning "to decrease")
and V for the Dutch word "verhogen" meaning to increase.
Some authors use wait for P and signal for V.
end of footnote.
The reference to Dijkstra 1981b is resolved to "personal communication
Oct. 1981.
As I am Dutch, the explanation given by Andrews and Schneider looks
quite reasonable; except for a minor spelling problem (can you spot
my correction in the text of the footnote?) the Dutch is correct.
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