OT: confused about "the number of" and "count"

[MazeGen]

Hello well-English-speakers,
I still didn't get English lessons so I am confused about when to use "the number of" and "count"  :red

We say "The general register count on x86-32 hardware is eight" or "The number of general registers on x86-32 hardware is eight"?

We say "The argument count is five" or "The number of arguments is five"?

etc. etc.  :'(

::)

[AeroASM]

If in doubt, use "the number of". It is safe to always use "the number of".

"Count" is only used when you are talking about a specific technical property; it is less to do with the actual objects and is just a statistic.

Also it is more usual in your examples to say "x86-32 hardware has eight general registers" and "It takes five arguments".

[Jeff]

actually, either way is fine.  its hard to explain it (for me at least).  but in general, the common folk use "the number of" more often than "count" in your examples.  i guess you could think of it as a way of sounding more sophisticated by using different words.

[edit]
or what he said.   :lol

[MichaelW]

I'm certainly no expert, but I think in a sentence the word "count" should generally be used only as a verb (or as part of a title, as in Count Dracula :lol).

And in your example sentences, I would use neither because the ideas can be expressed without them, just as Aero demonstrated.

[MazeGen]

Well guys, what kind of sentence is the following, for instance? It comes from the MASM programmer's guide:

localbytes The count in bytes of all locals defined with the LOCAL directive.

Why is not used "The number of all locals in bytes..."? Is it the specific technical property, as Aero have said?

:eek

[Jeff]

in that context, "count" is is the same as "number of".

so yes, "The number of all locals in bytes..." is also valid.

the form of the sentence is determined by what words are used.  the author used "count" based on what aero had said so that form was appropriate.

sorry if that doesnt clear things up.

[AeroASM]

In that example, there is a distinction between "the number of" requiring an actual number but "count" only requires a property; it would be correct to say "the value of localbytes is the number of bytes". However the main reason for using "count" is that is is more technical.

[MazeGen]

Michael, I appreciate also your opinion of the new question  :wink

[MichaelW]

The count in bytes of all locals defined with the LOCAL directive.

IMO the use of count is acceptable in this context because of the "in bytes" that follows, and because count is a "specific technical property" that most programmers are familiar with. When I wrote "generally" I meant for writing in general.

Also, it seems to me that the phrase "all locals defined with the LOCAL directive" is ambiguous. Does it mean all locals defined with the LOCAL directive in the current procedure, or something else?

[Mark Jones]

Hasn't anyone ever heard of the Count of Bytes? (a suburb of Transylvania?) :green2 :bdg Him and Dracula would always stay up late coding and drinking red, red wine... :)

Seriously, "count" seems to imply performing an action: "He can count to ten", while "number" seems to imply a quantity or value "He was number 10."

[tenkey]

Here is also a little trick of English...

If we use an article (the, a, an) after "of", the number is probably an identifier (probably related to location).

"The number of the room is 103."
"We are given the number of a room."
"What is the number of the street?"

If we don't use an article, the number will probably be a count.

"The number of rooms is 100."
"We are given the number of rooms."
"What is the number of streets?"

[MazeGen]

Thanks guys,
it is much clearer now :clap:
I'll use "the number of" instead of "count" hoping it will be understable ;)

Also, it seems to me that the phrase "all locals defined with the LOCAL directive" is ambiguous. Does it mean all locals defined with the LOCAL directive in the current procedure, or something else?

Yea, I read it out of context. It was taken from chapter 7, User-Defined Prologue and Epilogue Code:

The assembler expects your prologue or epilogue macro to have this form:
   macroname  MACRO procname, \
   flag, \
   parmbytes, \
   localbytes, \
   <reglist>, \
   userparms

localbytes  The count in bytes of all locals defined with the LOCAL directive.