Arguments or parameters?
I often find myself confused with how the terms 'arguments' and 'parameters' are used. They seem to be used interchangeably in the programming world. What's the correct convention for their use? ...
terminology
What's a more polite word for "code smell"?
In relation to my other question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/432440/as-our-favorite-imperative-languages-gain-functional-constructs-should-loops-be What's the politer word we can use for horrendous(for lack of better term again) codes when doing code reviews? ...
You say Topic or Thread? (Progamming question about English idiom from non-English speaker)
Topic or thread any difference? what do you english speakers think is the correct? im working on a forum and i wonder if you say "topic" or "thread". Hope you understand. Thanks in advance ...
What's the difference between code construction and architecture?
When I read the book Code Complete, the word "construction" is referenced frequently. What does that mean? ...
Alternate name for one-to-one vs one-to-many
Are there generally accepted computer science terms for one-to-one and one-to-many relationships? Something similar to the terms "aggregation", "generalization", and "association," but strictly pertaining to the cardinality of the relationship? ...
Canonical term for something that can only occur once? Something that can occur multiple times?
I'm really anal about what I name my classes, and I need an adjective for both something that is only allowed to happen once, as well as something that is allowed to happen multiple times. examples: wordthatmeansitcanonlyhappenonceTrigger wordthatmeansitcanhappenmultipletimesTrigger ...
Need help with Database Terminology
If you have data in one table that should be in another table, what is their relationship called? ...
What would you define a function?
If you were told to write a routine, would you take that as to write a function or pseudo code or what? ...
What does it mean to do/determine something "programmatically"?
Programmatically. (alt. programmically) I've never used it, but I see it in questions a lot, i.e. "How to programmatically determine [insert task here]". Firefox immediately tells me that neither of these two words are real (at least, it doesn't recognize them). I've also never seen them used anywhere but here. 1) What does it mean to ...
How do you call those little annoying cases you have to check all the time?
How do you call those little annoying cases that has to be checked , like "it's the first time someone entered a record / delete the last record in a linked list (in c implementation) / ... " ? The only term I know translates not-very-nicely to "end-cases" . Does it have a better name? ...
Software Engineer, Developer, Programmer - Just a name?
I look at ads and the jobs seem to overlap. A lot of software engineer jobs even say CS or related degree so it doesn't seem like a degree in CS = software engineer. It seems like a programmer or developer with experience can transition to the role or become an "engineer". Or is the engineer just the same job with a fancy name... Is ther...
Regular Expression Question
Hi All, I'm writing a term paper on regular expressions and I'm a bit confused regarding the way one uses the word "match" when referring to regexes. Which of the following is the correct wording to use: "The regular expression matches the string" or "The string matches the regular expression" Or are they both correct? All opini...
often used seldom defined terms: lvalue
What is an lvalue? ...
Where is the line between DAL and ORM?
The terms are often thrown around interchangeably, and there's clearly considerable overlap, but just as often it seems implied that people see something strongly implied by saying that a system is an ORM that isn't implied by it being a DAL. What is that? What, if any, are the key points that differentiate these types of system? For ...
What are "downward funargs"?
Jamie Zawinski uses that term in his (now ten years old) article "java sucks" as if you should know what it means: I really hate the lack of downward-funargs; anonymous classes are a lame substitute. (I can live without long-lived closures, but I find lack of function pointers a huge pain.) It seems to be Lisper's slang, and I coul...
What is a Sanity Suite?
I read an article about Test Driven Datamigration (German, PDF) and they mentioned a Sanity Suite. It is not well explained and there's no definition. Is there a definition or is it a spongy word? ...
What is the difference between a port and a protocol?
What is the difference between a port and a protocol? ...
What does I18N safe mean?
I came across a comment in some code referring to said code being "I18N safe". What does this refer to? ...
What is "runaway query"?
In the context of SQL, what does a runaway query mean? Does it mean any query that runs wild when it takes too long? Or does it mean when it has some side-effects due to triggers? ...
What is functional, declarative and imperative programming?
In a nutshell, what is: Functional programming Declarative programming Imperative programming Are there other (more exotic) types? What type is jQuery? I really like it but don't know what it's called. ...