# tags: variable-binding and scoping

While recently editing a question, Raphael introduced the tag , using it to replace that had been chosen by the OP. That is apparently the only use of .

I must say, I did not understand the motivation for that, as scoping is a subtopic of binding (though the word binding is often not used alone). Still, I believe the two concepts are not separable, and thus do not justify two tags in my opinion. Binding is a bit more general as it may includes for example discussion of the uses of binding for different purposes: quantification, abstraction, .... But binding always implies some scoping policy.

I would suggest keeping both as synonyms, as binding may be more naturally used by theoreticians, while scoping may be used more by programmers. Actually, my preferred choice would be .

• Actually, though historical, the use of the word variable is misguided in a programming context, since the issue concerns the meaning of names, which may or may not denote variables. It would be more acceptable in a purely mathematical context where variable often means name. See for example: What is the difference between assignment, valuation and name binding?. I know of de Bruijn notation, but ... it is not the most frequent use. And most discussions are about binding: what name means what, where. De Bruijn is only doing away with it. – babou Mar 3 '15 at 8:40