Alice and Bob: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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When the interaction between two hypothetical characters is needed to explain or describe some system, they are nearly always called [[Alice Allusion|Alice]] and [[Everythings Better With Bob|Bob]]. Alice and Bob - A and B. This duo originally started out as a standardized way to explain cryptography. Over time, the duo has been adopted in explanations of mathematics, physics, quantum effects, and other arcane places, but have also been seen in fiction. They are also found in a surprising number of trope definitions.
When the interaction between two hypothetical characters is needed to explain or describe some system, they are nearly always called [[Alice Allusion|Alice]] and [[Everything's Better With Bob|Bob]]. Alice and Bob - A and B. This duo originally started out as a standardized way to explain cryptography. Over time, the duo has been adopted in explanations of mathematics, physics, quantum effects, and other arcane places, but have also been seen in fiction. They are also found in a surprising number of trope definitions.


Where more than two characters are needed, other names are used, such as Carol and Charlie. Some names have acquired standard meanings, such as Eve the Eavesdropper. Lists of these can be found in Bruce Schneier's book Applied Cryptography, and at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Bob that other wiki].
Where more than two characters are needed, other names are used, such as Carol and Charlie. Some names have acquired standard meanings, such as Eve the Eavesdropper. Lists of these can be found in Bruce Schneier's book Applied Cryptography, and at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Bob that other wiki].
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See also [[Those Two Guys]], [[Greek Chorus]].
See also [[Those Two Guys]], [[Greek Chorus]].
{{examples|Examples:}}
{{examples}}


== [[Film]] ==
== [[Film]] ==
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* [[Amnesiac Liar]]
* [[Amnesiac Liar]]
* [[Arson Murder and Jaywalking]]
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]
* [[Bathroom Stall of Overheard Insults]]
* [[Bathroom Stall of Overheard Insults]]
* [[Belated Happy Ending]]
* [[Belated Happy Ending]]
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* [[Derailing Love Interests]]
* [[Derailing Love Interests]]
* [[Description Cut]]
* [[Description Cut]]
* [[Did They or Didn't They]]
* [[Did They or Didn't They?]]
* [[Dinner Deformation]]
* [[Dinner Deformation]]
* [[Don't Sneak Up On Me Like That]]
* [[Don't Sneak Up On Me Like That]]
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* [[Fan Preferred Couple]]
* [[Fan Preferred Couple]]
* [[Finish Dialogue in Unison]]
* [[Finish Dialogue in Unison]]
* [[Finishing Each Others Sentences]]
* [[Finishing Each Other's Sentences]]
* [[Footsie Under the Table]]
* [[Footsie Under the Table]]
* [[Fox News Liberal]]
* [[Fox News Liberal]]
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* [[Glad I Thought of It]]
* [[Glad I Thought of It]]
* [[Have We Met]]
* [[Have We Met]]
* [[Head Tiltingly Kinky]]
* [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky]]
* [[Hilarity in Zoos]]
* [[Hilarity in Zoos]]
* [[Holding the Floor]]
* [[Holding the Floor]]
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* [[Never Live It Down]]
* [[Never Live It Down]]
* [[No I Am Behind You]]
* [[No I Am Behind You]]
* [[No Just No Reaction]]
* [["No. Just... No" Reaction]]
* [[Not Listening to Me Are You]]
* [[Not Listening to Me Are You]]
* [[Not So Innocent Whistle]]
* [[Not-So-Innocent Whistle]]
* [[One Book Author]]
* [[One-Book Author]]
* [[Operation Jealousy]]
* [[Operation Jealousy]]
* [[Or Are You Just Happy to See Me]]
* [[Or Are You Just Happy to See Me]]
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* [[Preemptive Shut Up]]
* [[Preemptive Shut Up]]
* [[Premature Aggravation]]
* [[Premature Aggravation]]
* [[Racefor Your Love]]
* [[Race For Your Love]]
* [[Rapid Fire Interrupting]]
* [[Rapid Fire Interrupting]]
* [[Rapid Fire No]]
* [[Rapid-Fire "No"]]
* [[Revealing Hug]]
* [[Revealing Hug]]
* [[Right Behind Me]]
* [[Right Behind Me]]
* [[Right in Front of Me]]
* [[Right in Front of Me]]
* [[Said Bookism]]
* [[Said Bookism]]
* [[Schrodingers Player Character]]
* [[Schrodinger's Player Character]]
* [[Selective Enforcement]]
* [[Selective Enforcement]]
* [[Selling the Show]]
* [[Selling the Show]]
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* [[Walk in Chime In]]
* [[Walk in Chime In]]
* [[War Ship]]
* [[War Ship]]
* [[Was It Really Worth It]]
* [[Was It Really Worth It?]]
* [[What Is This X]]
* [[What Is This, X?]]
* [[Where Did We Go Wrong]]
* [[Where Did We Go Wrong?]]
* [[Whos On First]]
* [[Who's On First?]]
* [[Why Are You Looking At Me Like That]]
* [[Why Are You Looking At Me Like That]]
* [[Why Didn't You Just Say So]]
* [[Why Didn't You Just Say So?]]
* [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit]]
* [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit]]
* [[You Know What You Did]]
* [[You Know What You Did]]

Revision as of 12:22, 8 January 2014

File:0.jpg
Alice and Bob [1]


When the interaction between two hypothetical characters is needed to explain or describe some system, they are nearly always called Alice and Bob. Alice and Bob - A and B. This duo originally started out as a standardized way to explain cryptography. Over time, the duo has been adopted in explanations of mathematics, physics, quantum effects, and other arcane places, but have also been seen in fiction. They are also found in a surprising number of trope definitions.

Where more than two characters are needed, other names are used, such as Carol and Charlie. Some names have acquired standard meanings, such as Eve the Eavesdropper. Lists of these can be found in Bruce Schneier's book Applied Cryptography, and at that other wiki. Note that The common names are: Alice Bob Charlie/Charley. This works for most situations.

The use of Alice and Bob is suggested in General Suggestions, but some of us (notably those who really are called Alice and/or Bob) sometimes wish a little imagination could be applied. That's where Aerith and Bob come in. Or Jim and Mary. Or Dick and Jane.

See also Those Two Guys, Greek Chorus.

Examples of Alice and Bob include:


Film

Literature

  • In most cryptography textbooks, communications are presented as being between Alice and Bob, and must be secured from a third-party interloper named Eve (for Eavesdropper, of course!). If the problem requires the involvement of more than two parties, then Charlie and Donna may be introduced. This is the basis for the Xkcd reference. Other character names sometimes used for special purposes include Mallory (a malicious active adversary, capable of changing the messages sent between Alice and Bob, whereas Eve merely listens), Trent (a mutually trusted third party, whom Alice and Bob might prevail upon to execute protocols in which they don't trust each other), and Peggy and Victor (the prover and verifier, respectively, in zero-knowledge proofs).
    • Game Theory books often use an adaptation of Alice and Bob in "Rose and Colin" (rows and columns on game theory charts), with "Larry", or "layer" thrown in for three person games.
      • Game Semantics books tend to use Abelard and Eloise (for resemblance to the universal and existental quantifier symbols, which are an inverted A and a backwards E). They are also the names of a medieval logician and his lover.
  • Alice and Bob are the names of the parents in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, and a government official is named Eve Mallory.
  • E. R. Emmet's "Our Factory" puzzles feature "Alf", "Bert", "Charlie", and so on.

Live Action TV

  • TV and Movie example: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.
  • One of the logos at the end of The Bonnie Hunt Show (2008-2010) is for "Bob & Alice Productions".
    • Bonnie's Hunt's parents are named Bob and Alice so it is either just a reference to her parents or both.

Music Tropes

  • Nerdcore Rap artist MC Plus+ has a song about cryptography named "Alice and Bob".

Newspaper Comics

Oral Tradition

Video Games

  • Used in a very surreal Cyberspace level in World of Goo called "Alice and Bob and the Third Party," where you intercept information-goo transmitted from cosmicGrrrl! to LaconicCrusadr13.
  • Used as examples for an explanation of quantum teleportation in Remember 11.

Web Comics

Web Original

Real Life

  • Alice and Bob really are quantum- a professor at the University of Washington has used two separate remote cameras, named Alice and Bob, to test the theory of non-locality and its potential for time travel, by attempting to receive a message before it's sent. The experiment hasn't yielded results so far, but it's telling.
  • In Linguistics, it's more often John and Mary.

TV Tropes Wiki

  1. ↑ cartoon by John Richardson in Physics World, March 1998
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