Questions tagged [programming]
Questions about English used for talking about programming, but not about programming languages themselves.
327
questions
-1
votes
0answers
56 views
Difference between 'follow' / 'watch' / 'subscribe' (in software context)
In many different software solutions (websites such as GitHub, Facebook, etc.) users can interact with:
individual users
groups of users
projects belonging to one of the above
One of the ways these ...
0
votes
1answer
35 views
How do you describe only the name of the directory in computer science?
In computer science, I found the word "directory name" seems to describe path of the directory. (because when you use dirname command in linux you get path)
Then what word(s) do you use to describe ...
-1
votes
2answers
100 views
Is there a single noun for “value available at compile time”?
I'm working on an interpreter for some programming language.
The language uses many concepts, notably the concept of:
"type" or "data type" (see Wikipedia's data type page)
"value", in the sense of "...
-1
votes
3answers
132 views
Other word for 'scope' (in the programming sense) that is non-ambiguous to non-programmers
The title says it all, really.
For a Philosophy essay, I would like to describe scope, in its programming sense of being:
Nestable: you can have a scope within a scope
Hierarchical: a child scope ...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
What noun should I use when I want “seekability”?
This is programming lingo and apparently not a word in the dictionary and so I would like to be able to solve "this problem" with only dictionary primitives. (If you allow me to speak that away.)
A ...
0
votes
1answer
124 views
“Object oriented” vs. “object orientated” [duplicate]
I've heard both used interchangeably with regards to object-[oriented/orientated] programming. What's SE's opinion on it?
3
votes
4answers
116 views
Do people still use the word “program” as a noun?
Liberal Arts kind of guy who wormed his way into Information Technology here.
Part of my job involves explaining technology to people who have little technical aptitude at all, so I look for ways to ...
1
vote
0answers
41 views
Wording for inheritance, heredity in programming
I have objects which are related in two ways:
Mother-child relation I called inheritance or heredity. It means that everything defined in the mother object gets inherited to the child.
Language ...
2
votes
3answers
514 views
Is “repository” pronounced /rɪˈpɒzɪt(ə)ri/ or \ri-ˈpä-zə-ˌtȯr-ē\ or /rəˈpäzəˌtôrē/?
Is it /rɪˈpɒzɪt(ə)ri/ or \ri-ˈpä-zə-ˌtȯr-ē\?
I'm confused, I've seen it pronounced both ways and I'm not not sure if it's an American/British thing or do people just use different pronunciations ...
1
vote
1answer
89 views
Using the plural form of proprietary for software
I came across this sentence in an article.
There is a balance of proprietary and open sources in the market.
Should it be either of the following instead?
There is a balance of ...
-1
votes
2answers
45 views
Finding a better name for “context” or “variant” for describing a software object concept
Problem:
In a software product, there is the possibility to define sets of parameters
(key, value pairs). The functionality is encapsulated in an object in the
code, to be reused by programmers ...
-4
votes
2answers
92 views
What does the word instruction mean in programming?
A computer program is a set of instructions that tells the computer what to do.
I have checked on the English dictionary the meaning of instruction in programming but I think it is wrong.
Here is ...
0
votes
2answers
53 views
What is the word for assigning or passing into a function in programming? [closed]
I have two cases that I'd like to cover. For example you can either assign to a variable:
var x = 3;
Or you can indirectly assign to a variable with a function (passing function arguments):
my_func(...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
Getting something to work with something else
What is the proper way of conveying that I'm starting the task of getting some component to work or to be compatible with another component?
Having an app that was developed for iPhone to work on ...
2
votes
6answers
166 views
Verb for the inverse of greet
Is there a verb for the inverse of greet, or a synonym verb for greet that has an inverse verb? Everything I can think of is a verb phrase, exclamation, or noun. Salute is the closest I could find, ...
1
vote
0answers
36 views
Etymology of words “throw” and “catch” when talking about “programming exceptions” [duplicate]
I must first apologize if this is the wrong place to ask this. According to the guidelines on cs.stackexchange and stackoverflow, this question was clearly considered "off topic" for both of those ...
1
vote
0answers
69 views
What is a good word or prhase to describe a unit of measure/a unit of physical quantity?
I am looking for a good word or a short phrase to describe a physical quantity.
For example consider these examples:
5.0 m3/h
17 bar
20 gpm (gallons per minute)
3 psi (pounds per square inch)
I am ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
What is the equivalent of append or add to push to front?
I am in a programming context. I am writing a commit message and I am struggling to find a word for the following action: In a list of items, I added some elements at the front of the list. We are ...
-1
votes
1answer
297 views
“… takes as input …” vs “… takes input as …”
Why did the author place "as" between the verb take and the preposition here?
Give an efficient algorithm that takes as input a desired accuracy ϵ > 0 and returns a simple cycle C for which r(C)≥ r*...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
What to call a library of shared libraries in programming
There are (for example) three dynamic libraries that is files libxx.so, libyy.so, and libzz.so (or .dll files xx.dll, yy.dll, and zz.dll on Windows).
What do you call the collection of all three ...
1
vote
1answer
392 views
What is the antonym of Update? [duplicate]
As a developer, I am writing a commit message to rollback an update. In my message I want to describe what I am doing which is the opposite of an update. I am looking for something like the word ...
1
vote
2answers
47 views
What's a specific word for a programmer who has contextual knowledge of a particular programming language, framework, environment, etc?
This term was used by an old Senior Developer of mine but for the life of me I can't recall it. The context of the conversation was that he wasn't necessarily more skilled than an Intermediate ...
0
votes
1answer
209 views
Meaning of the term “instaciate”/“instatiate” in computer programming
What does this word mean?
instaciate, otherwise instatiate
It's not in any of my dictionaries, but there are a few too many occurrences of this word in programming communities and across the ...
0
votes
3answers
48 views
What is its called when you buy a program, game and you cant use it anymore do to the devs shutting down the servers (an online game in my case)
the only reason it will not work is do to the dev's shutting it down btw I cant get a refund so is what they did illegal do to I paid for something and I cant use it do to it being the dev's fault, ...
1
vote
2answers
49 views
Is there a terminology to describe a user (in computer science) who doesn't need to think to do its job?
To be more specific, an example:
The customer relationship department of a company has 100 people to work on customer requests. This company has a system in which almost everything is automated for ...
0
votes
1answer
36 views
When to use articles before programming terms?
I've found such a paragraph in one of programming tutorials:
Ruby strings are simply sequences of 8-bit bytes and they are objects
of class String. Double-quoted strings allow substitution and
...
0
votes
1answer
56 views
Run “as” normal user vs. Run “with” normal user
On Linux Mint 19, I have a Makefile with a command which should output a sentence:
Target 'distrib' has to be run as normal user!
in case the user has run it as / with the root user.
Since I am ...
0
votes
1answer
66 views
How can I call file not under version control in one word?
In opposite to - versioned - files that are under Source-Code-Version-Control system (i.e. Git/SVN), is there a way to call files that left deliberately out in one word?
Is word "un-versioned" ("non-...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
Is there a word for someone who is your relative but is neither your descendant nor you his?
I'm writing a function in Python that will allow me to list all folders that have a common root folder (common ancestor), but in the process of building up unordered folder pairs for each folder, I am ...
1
vote
3answers
385 views
Term describing the smallest possible unit of data
I want to write something like:
In cases where the smallest unit of data is available (e.g. houses, persons, vehicles), we can use more detailed models.
So I am looking for something describing ...
0
votes
1answer
58 views
Capitalizing lowercase names in technical writing (programming) [duplicate]
In a world of programming, there are number of tools which have purposefully lowercase names: like tmux or sed. When talking about this tools, how does capitalization work?
Do I never capitalize ...
0
votes
1answer
306 views
How to pronounce C++11 in English?
How to pronounce C++11 in English, "c plus plus one one" or "c plus plus eleven"?
Thanks in advance.
2
votes
4answers
199 views
Name for careless quick and dirty style of programming?
How to name a style of programming, which brings the results for given moment, but the code is written quickly, without any readability, considerations, recommended practices, without thinking of ...
0
votes
2answers
64 views
Capitalization of “String”
I am writing a scientific text in the area of computer science. Often, I need to refer to a certain data structure named String which refers to a sequence of characters. In most programming languages, ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
Pre(-)processing/post(-)processing hyphen presence in research publications written in UK/US English
Which of the following spellings of pre|post(-)processing are the most commonly used in research publications written in UK English and in US English?
pre-processing, post-processing versus ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
Correct Terminology of Types of Users of a Software Application
Maybe I should ask this in a language forum? I am not in an English country, so maybe that's why I can't know for sure the word I am looking for.
I'm designing a system that will have multiple ...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
Why using “this” in JavaScript is “like pair programming with Abbott and Costello”?
I'm aware that this question requires, in addition to some cultural context about Abbott and Costello, good expertise on quality JavaScript or OO coding. But I'm confident that there are plenty of ...
0
votes
1answer
59 views
Names for matching things [closed]
The context here is programming, so I'm not sure if anyone could understand.
I have a function that takes in two parameters. The first parameter is an enum while the second parameter is a list (of ...
2
votes
2answers
260 views
What is the term for ability of a variable to hold a null value?
In some programming languages, a variable may have a special value 'null' to denote an absence of any object. What term should be used to describe the property of whether or not a given variable can ...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
Minimal, but most important
I'm writing a Priority Queue. The details of it aren't important, but to describe a situation, I need a specific word.
It's possible for an item with the lowest priority to be the most important item ...
1
vote
1answer
3k views
Is “if not already exists” valid English?
In the programming world, I've often seen and used the phrase:
Create new table if not already exists.
Is this valid English wording and/or grammar?
1
vote
2answers
130 views
What is a common word for the jargon term “overload”?
In computer science and programming, one frequently wishes to create a process that takes a certain type of input and spits something (immaterial to this discussion) out. However, in many cases we ...
1
vote
2answers
42 views
Verb to replace “set bounds” [closed]
I'm developing some GUI software and I want to mean that this widget bounds/edges are attached to some boundary structure, something like:
bounds = { .left = 0, .top = 0, .right: 320, .bottom: 240 };
...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Word or phrase for things that are only noticed when they break? (or are pointed out)
E.g. the engineering that goes into the roads we travel on, the railways we use, the negative space in a painting, or any of the many systems that we depend on.
0
votes
1answer
45 views
Is there an umbrella term for “inflation” and “deflation”? [closed]
I am writing a software module that takes polygons and either inflates them or deflates them based on user input (i.e. if the user supplies 0.5 as input, the polygon is deflated to half of its size, ...
4
votes
3answers
117 views
How to describe this unrecognizable content? [duplicate]
In programming, I got the following content which is unrecognizable in the output.
When communicating with others, how should I describe the issue I encountered in more natural way?
In fact, this ...
6
votes
3answers
913 views
Hypernym for “radio button” and “checkbox”? [closed]
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Since I'm coding a shared css class for radio buttons and checkboxes, I would like to word it with the appropriate hypernym.
Kind regards
0
votes
0answers
36 views
When to use the noun dependents?
While programming, time is often spent to discuss and resolve object dependencies.
When object 'a' is dependent on object 'b' and 'c', it is commonly said object 'a' has dependencies.
Referring to ...
1
vote
3answers
5k views
What is the correct pronunciation of SQLite? [closed]
I seem to be hearing many different vocalizations of the name, and I'm not sure which one is correct. The last thing I want to do is "erroneously" drop the name in a meeting, and someone feel the need ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views
Is a software loop “breaked” or “broken”?
In software development there are code loop constructions, which you can BREAK.
foreach(i in integers)
...
break
If I break the cycle, it becomes broken or breaked?
Which sentence is correct ...
