Questions about English used for talking about programming, but not about programming languages themselves.
40
votes
3answers
1k views
How “macro” in computer programming came about
The prefix macro- is normally used for large things like macroeconomics and macroscopic. How did it come to be used to describe text macros in the programming world?
34
votes
3answers
4k views
“log in to” or “log into” or “login to”
When writing an instruction about connecting to a computer using ssh, telnet, etc., I'm not sure what spacing to use in this familiar spoken phrase:
"Log in to host.com"
"Log into host.com"
"Login ...
22
votes
6answers
2k views
Is it wrong to use the word “codes” in a programming context?
Is it wrong to use the word "codes" in programming context?
I shall use these codes.
19
votes
6answers
5k views
Which is correct: “Filename”, “File Name” or “FileName”?
Which is correct: "Filename", "File Name" or "FileName"?
18
votes
2answers
530 views
Marking plural of code words
In my blog (which is about programming) I often use reserved words from different programming languages.
Like this:
When column is nullable in both tables, this query won't return a match of two ...
15
votes
6answers
512 views
Where does the phrase “run code” or “run software” come from? Why “run”?
Historically speaking, it makes sense to me someone would say run "the computer". Early computers (not a human computer) were mechanical machines with moving parts that could achieve a velocity deemed ...
13
votes
5answers
5k views
When I say “comment out”, does it mean to uncomment something or comment it?
When I say "comment out", does it mean to uncomment something or comment it?
What is more better, or correctly, used?
PS: I'm talking about source code.
12
votes
3answers
1k views
Why is the plural acronym “CSS” treated as singular?
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets, which is a plural phrase. One would say:
Cascading Style Sheets are used to provide a central location for all of the stylings of a project.
However, it ...
12
votes
5answers
4k views
How is SQL pronounced?
When I was learning SQL, I remember reading that it should be pronounced just like the word sequel; however, I worked with a bunch of techs who seemed to prefer S-Q-L. Is there a proper convention for ...
11
votes
4answers
556 views
What does randomically mean?
I've just read an O’Reilly book and encoutered the word randomically. I highly suspect this is a made up word, but a quick google found it in use here, here, and here. Is this some obscure technical ...
8
votes
6answers
445 views
Preposition to follow “copy and paste”
The rows should be copied and pasted
to the spreadsheet.
Does that sound right? If not, how could we reword the sentence? I ask because "to" applies to "paste" but not to "copy". The logical ...
8
votes
1answer
316 views
What do you call the phenomenon where a rectangle Ϳ is shown because a font lacks a glyph?
Is there a name to describe the situation where a particular character is shown on a computer screen in a particular font, but this font does not have a glyph for this particular character?
Usually, ...
7
votes
4answers
405 views
Pluralizing keywords in programming languages [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Marking plural of code words
In the language that I'm currently working in one of the keywords is try. I'm writing an error message:
No implementation for global ...
6
votes
7answers
630 views
Is it correct to say “consecutively in time”?
I'm writing a technical report and I want to emphasize that each sample that I have stored in a buffer has been collected before the following one. Can I say,
The samples from the buffer are ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Are there any cases where “prepend” cannot be replaced by “prefix”?
"Prepend" is seeing a fair amount of use, both in programmer jargon and elsewhere.
Its use seems to come from a desire to create a word that is a direct parallel to "append."
However, such a word ...
6
votes
2answers
175 views
Which would be correct: “outputs” or “puts out”?
Which word should I use in the following context? Is the required before data?
Any algorithm first reads data, processes (the) data and finally [outputs|puts out] the processed data.
6
votes
1answer
287 views
What is an 'Iron Ring Event'
In a recent podcast of .Net rocks (at 45 minutes 29 seconds), regarding the future of software craftsmanship, it is postulated that there will be an 'Iron Ring Event' (if I heard it correctly). From ...
6
votes
3answers
396 views
Should the beginner's program read "Hello, World? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Where should the comma be placed in the salutation of a letter?
I was thinking today about comma usage and the typical first output for a beginning programmer. In the ...
5
votes
4answers
698 views
What's the origin of “beta” to describe a “user-testing” phase of computer development?
It occurred to me that I use the term "beta" to describe a "release candidate" of a computer product that has passed all expectations of the development team, and is now being given limited exposure ...
5
votes
3answers
794 views
How do you pronounce “cURL,” the computer utility? [closed]
Are there programmers here? I'd like to know how you guys pronounce cURL.
Because I don't live in a country that uses English, I haven't heard it yet.
5
votes
5answers
238 views
“Plugable” or “pluggable”
When it comes to programming copy edits, there are lots of words that would otherwise be thrown out or replaced.
Hive uses a plugable design.
Should that be plugable or pluggable?
If the ...
5
votes
7answers
222 views
why is it said that “messages are sent to methods”
In object oriented programming, it is said that messages are sent to methods. In this context, why is the word "method" used instead of "procedure" or "function". In other words, why was the word ...
4
votes
6answers
513 views
A word for someone who has more skill than a code monkey to be at just the next level
A Code monkey is a computer programmer
or other person who writes computer
code for a living. This term may be
slightly derogatory, meaning that this
developer can write some code but is
...
4
votes
3answers
401 views
Pronunciation of UI
I heard someone pronounce UI as yooey. I guess this comes from the pronunciation of GUI, which is gooey. How common is this compared to yoo-eye and user-interface?
4
votes
4answers
701 views
What does the word “hacking” or “hacker” come from? [closed]
Is there a history behind the word "hacker" and "hacking"?
Could it have anything to do with "hashing" i.e. using a hash function?
4
votes
3answers
520 views
What is the origin of != in the meaning “not equal to”?
As a programmer I have always assumed that using != as meaning not equal to when writing text (usually on the internet) came from programming languages. Is this true or is the origin different?
4
votes
4answers
217 views
The verb for carrying out a bitwise OR/AND operation
I'm writing a scientific/technical text which involves describing some low level code.
I need to complete the following sentence:
When two values are combined, their tags are _ _ _ _ _ _ together
...
4
votes
2answers
135 views
Compil[e/er/ation] Error
Which one should I use of the following:
Compile Error
Compiler Error
Compilation Error
I think the "Compilation Error" is way too long for everyday use, even though it's the "correct" ...
4
votes
1answer
235 views
Which is right “drop-down” or “drop down”?
What is the proper way to write this term when writing product documenation? Drop down list or drop-down list?
4
votes
2answers
101 views
Synonyms for “Inspect”
We have software which currently has these menu items: Map, Talk, Inspect, Analyze, Report, Team. We realize that the word Inspect word is not clear enough for most people. We have all the raw data ...
4
votes
1answer
64 views
Provenance of 'deprecated' (in the programming sense)
What are some early uses of "deprecation" in computer science? When did the word enter common usage in the field of programming? Are there any particularly well-known examples of early deprecations ...
4
votes
2answers
143 views
What's the verb for 'to form a canonical representation'?
I'd like to describe the activity of turning a set of elements into its canonical (standardized base) form.
Some candidates seem to be:
canonicalize
canonize
I'd also like to name the device ...
3
votes
6answers
700 views
Why do programmers always use 'we' when really they mean 'me' or 'you'? [closed]
Something I've noticed a lot from reading articles on stack overflow is that programmers tend to use the term 'we' a heck of a lot. I'm a programmer myself and I must admit, of all the times I've ...
3
votes
2answers
87 views
Is there a specific term for “conditions treated as though there are OR operators between them”?
I'm writing a program that generates playlists from a large pool of mp3 files. The program can keep track of total playing time, number of tracks and total size of the files, and can be given upper ...
3
votes
2answers
529 views
Instrumented? What is a good explanation/definition of the word. (English: Tech Jargon)
What is a good explanation/definition of the word Instrumented?
as in "Good code needs to be instrumented..."
I did a brief web search, but the few places it pops up seem to also be full of jargon, ...
3
votes
1answer
139 views
Is “catenate” used in IT parlance?
When I was doing my IT degree in the 80s we learned that, in programming terms, concatenation was the act of joining two strings together.
Recently I was reading a technical manual and came across ...
3
votes
1answer
93 views
When writing user stories, should there be a comma after “As a User”, and before “I want”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Comma after introductory phrases
Agile software development often encourages people to write up user stories using a given formula. The formula is: "As a User I want to ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
“As of this patch…” , “From this patch onward…”?
I want to express that the new patch of the software I am writing enables the system to do "X".
Which of the following options are preferable:
As of this patch, the system is able to do X.
...
3
votes
2answers
81 views
IT-related synonym for “context” [closed]
I'm developing an application which has an "Event" system that basically allows application extensions to attach events to a certain "context". When the application reaches a context, it will fire ...
3
votes
0answers
123 views
Is 'unwind' an appropriate term for describing the shrinking phase of a recursive process? [closed]
Can we say, for instance, that once the base case for a recursive procedure is reached, the recursive process consisting of the evaluation of the procedure 'unwinds'? Here, the term 'unwind' would ...
2
votes
3answers
230 views
Why pool of processes?
I hit the sentence:
The ProcessPoolExecutor class is an Executor subclass that uses a pool
of processes to execute calls asynchronously.
I was looking for the word pool which means swimming ...
2
votes
4answers
103 views
Use of “permission” in technical writing
In a request for proposal (RFP) I am attempting to edit the following sentence-fragment which isn't grammatically correct:
"...except for staff permissioned to update..."
My problem is with the ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
“bound” or “bonded”
If I use a computer command like:
bind keystroke macro
I refer to that keystroke as being bound to that macro. Is it also correct to say that they are bonded?
If I bind a bunch of twigs together, ...
2
votes
2answers
926 views
What does “no-op” mean?
In the Remarks section of a Microsoft dbset.add page I read
Remarks: Note that entities that are already in the context in some other state will have their state set to Added. Add is a no-op if ...
2
votes
7answers
795 views
“On the cloud” or “in the cloud”?
I would use this title for a blog about cloud computing. Which is correct — "on the cloud" or "in the cloud"?
2
votes
1answer
329 views
Title Capitalization of Keywords in Programming Languages [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase
Should I change the structure of a sentence/add filler words to make sure that the sentence always starts ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
“Archivable” or “archiveable”
I have an entity and I would like to describe it as being able to be archived.
Is it archivable, archiveable (which seem OK for me but no wiktionary.org results) or something else?
2
votes
4answers
963 views
“Enclosure” vs. “attachment”
If I understand it correctly, one usually uses the term enclosure when referring to extra documents to e.g. a letter. But what if these extra items are not other documents and papers?
Say I have ...
2
votes
3answers
176 views
“Art developer” or “arts developer” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the difference, if any, between 'art', 'the arts', and 'Art'?
Which is more correct in describing a software developer: art developer or ...
2
votes
2answers
673 views
Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a sentence
Let's say that you have a word that should be typed with leading lowercase letter. Perhaps ...
