Timeline for Word to describe a computer system that is more error accepting?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 26, 2015 at 19:18 | comment | added | Doug Kavendek | I've also seen 'robust' used as an antonym of 'chaotic' when used to informally describe a software system. In other words, with a chaotic system, the output can be vastly changed by minor differences (errors) in the input, but in a robust system the problems are proportional to the errors (e.g., a minor typo could cause a logged error rather than possibly dropping all tables, a broken input stream would cause the program to terminate rather than corrupt the disk). | |
| Jan 25, 2015 at 8:31 | comment | added | goldilocks | "Robust" is absolutely the word that is conventionally used for this in CS/programming textbooks, etc. -- it in part reflects @NicholasKyriakides a tolerance for bad input (e.g., from the user). However, that it's appropriate to general use begs the question that technical fields all make proper use of the English language in their conventions; there's a lot of software engineering language which may sound odd or nonsensical outside of that context. So this answer is technically correct by convention, but tolerant is probably a better choice. | |
| Jan 24, 2015 at 22:58 | comment | added | nicholaswmin | Robust to me is something that forgives errors created by another piece of software, possibly a component of the same system - e.g another algorithm within itself, an external API etc - Idiot-proof sounds like it forgives errors created by the user himself. | |
| Jan 24, 2015 at 19:17 | comment | added | Hagen von Eitzen | Of course in reality software has only one guaranteed property: AS IS. | |
| Jan 24, 2015 at 9:15 | history | edited | Matt E. Эллен | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 107 characters in body
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| Jan 23, 2015 at 22:20 | comment | added | Hot Licks | Remember that "robust" basically means "healthy and strong". I'm reasonably sure it was originally applied to people, and the application to computers is fairly recent (within my memory -- perhaps 30 years). | |
| Jan 23, 2015 at 22:10 | comment | added | Chris H | robust can be applied to systems in general not just pieces of software. You would need to be a little careful if using our in a mainly hardware sense - a more literal meaning could mean you could drop it on the floor without it breaking. You might also come across "robust against" followed by a class of threats (user input, dropped connection etc.) | |
| Jan 23, 2015 at 16:47 | comment | added | StupidOne | @user1589188 As a developer myself, I can confirm this is exactly the word we are using in industry to describe "error-tolerate" software. Idiot-proof (another answer which I saw below) is more like a jargon and, unlike robust, won't ever be used in offical documents. | |
| Jan 23, 2015 at 7:59 | vote | accept | user1589188 | ||
| Jan 23, 2015 at 7:51 | comment | added | user1589188 | This is a new word to me, how exactly people use it? | |
| Jan 23, 2015 at 7:49 | history | answered | anemone | CC BY-SA 3.0 |