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US State Names and Abbreviations as PHP Arrays (gist.github.com)
48 points by paultela 3836 days ago
8 comments
vlucas 3836 days ago
I made the website http://devdata.io for this exact reason. You can get an array/list/object of US state names and abbreviations (and lots of other datasets) in any language supported (currently JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, C#, and Lua).
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ashmud 3836 days ago
Suggestions, based on what we also have/use.

Datasets: Languages (human), SMS Carriers

Language: SQL

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sjs382 3836 days ago
https://gist.github.com/maxrice/2776900#gistcomment-1200768

"Here is the list without Delaware" almost made me spit-take.

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mahouse 3836 days ago
Not from the US, what's the joke?
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ashmud 3836 days ago
Possibilities:

N-1/+1 joke, since Delaware was the first (by date of ratification) state.

Discussion around incomplete sets (do you include "military" states or other non-"50 state" territories?).

Ad hominem attack on removed entity (claiming entity is unimportant).

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pavel_lishin 3836 days ago
Completely lost it at

    <?php
    $THE_UNITED_STATES  = file_get_contents('states_temp.php');
    eval($THE_UNITED_STATES);
    ?>
_temp.php, evals, temporary variable names... I'm getting flashbacks.
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krapp 3836 days ago
file_get_contents should make an http request to its own server for maximum awesomeness...

assuming the php file just echoes its own source code,which is entirely doable.

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csixty4 3835 days ago
http://statetable.com will give you datasets with US states and/or Canadian provinces, current and/or historical, with or without DC, with or without minor territories & posessions, and with or without military addresses.

Data can be exported in CSV, a PHP array, or a whole mess of MySQL commands to build a table.

It's also open source if you just want the source data: https://github.com/daveross/statetable-com/blob/master/state...

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jetskindo 3836 days ago
I'll gladly admit that I didn't get it.
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krapp 3836 days ago
I'm surprised PHP doesn't already have US_state_name_to_abbreviation() and US_state_abbreviation_to_name() baked in already. This is a language that supports[0] Swatch Internet time[1]. Literally, a "time" format made up as a gimmick to advertise one specific brand of wristwatch from the late 1990s.

I hope someone on Hacker News who contributes to the PHP core can attempt to correct this discrepancy.

[0]http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.idate.php

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatch_Internet_Time

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JshWright 3836 days ago
I suspect it would be US_state_name_to_abbreviation() and USStateAbbr2Name() in order to meet PHP's consistency requirements.
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wdmeldon 3836 days ago
When I developed in PHP, I could never understand why they didn't just reach a compromise that made everyone happy. Like uS_state_nameToAbbreviation() and uSStateAbbr_to_name()

I call it camel_Snake.

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krylon 3836 days ago
Great, now I have tea all over my desk.

Although it was totally worth it. ;-)

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_lce0 3836 days ago
Haha I love when spontaneously some joke takes off, even if the joke doesn't make much sense

;)

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toxican 3836 days ago
That went from "Oh cool, I'll bookmark that" to "hey waaait a minute" real quick.
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