Else can be found in English text prior to computer existence. Else can't be found in a German dictionary as a conjunction [1]. The first suggestion in Duden is the name for alder tree in lower German. Second suggestion is a firstname. If a word would come from German, it seems the first step would be to look up in a German dictionary.
While the look up for history of computer language is interesting, the conclusion is completely wrong.
No. English has used else to mean "otherwise" since before computers came along. Wiktionary offers this quote from Call of the Wild (1903):
"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."
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."
Article states else is archiac English but later says someone called it ignorantly incorrect English and suggested using "or".
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.
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.
While the look up for history of computer language is interesting, the conclusion is completely wrong.
[1] https://www.duden.de/suchen/dudenonline/Else
sure you can. who's going to stop you?
Or if this other thing were to be true, then bar.
If it’s something else, then baz.
"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."
Even if it hasn't been invented as the author claims, the question of who used it in code first is a valid one, right?
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.
Fixed!
Not true. Here's an example from 1876 in which "else" is used as a conjunction.
> My brother is poor, and I want to look as much like him as I can, else he may feel distant from me.
-- George Eliot ( https://www.victorianlondon.org/etexts/eliot/deronda-0047.sh... )
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Here's an example of "if ... else" from the 1914 translation of Crime and Punishment ( https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Crime_and_Punishment/Part_IV/... ):
> Perhaps it will all come back, but now if you love me, give me up . . . else I shall begin to hate you, I feel it.