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Since history questions are considered on topic, I figured I'd ask one that's been bugging me for quite some time and no one I know seems to know the answer. Does anyone know what the historical significance is of the prefix yy? Most of the variables and functions generated by lex start with it, such as yylval, and yylex(). I also remember seeing a utility named yyrsa somewhere, but can't find references to it anywhere now. Inquiring minds want to know!

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and I thought this was a vim question :P – xenoterracide♦ Nov 16 '10 at 11:07

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I think it has something to do with yacc, which has files ending in .y, and requires a function called yylex.

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This SO question seems to agree – Michael Mrozek♦ Sep 7 '10 at 15:44
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Quoting @peterb's response in the SO post linked by Michael, "there's no apparent meaning discussed beyond simply desiring a namespace. The "yy" in lex.yy.c indicates that the lex output is intended for a yacc parser." Thanks guys! – Timothy Sep 7 '10 at 15:55

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