What different terms mean the same thing (or don't, but people think they do)?

Question

One of the pitfalls I run into on a daily basis is customers saying one thing while meaning another. Usually, this is just due to a miscommunication somewhere, but occasionally they are, in fact, saying the same thing I am just using a different term.

For example, one of my customers the other day mentioned a feature he called, "find as you type." Being a little confused, I asked him what he meant, and he described the feature in Google where, once you start typing a search query, Google suggests other, popular queries that match the letters you have typed.

Click! He meant AutoComplete! He was not wrong, it is just that I had never heard that term before.

In the spirit of reducing confusion, what terms can you think of that are different but mean, essentially, the same thing?

Also, what terms do people think mean the same thing, but don't. Please differentiate between the two.

Please only one set of terms per answer, so we can vote on the best ones.

The feature you're referring to with Google is actually their Google Suggest feature that's been refined for several years now. It's not like the typical autocomplete functionality, because rather than querying a list of recently used terms you have entered before on your own computer, it queries against the Google database for popular terms that may be related to what you're typing. All made possible by the collective technologies we know as AJAX. — Steve Wortham, Jun 25 '09 at 17:20
Right. He meant the auto-completion feature, not the querying mode, which is why I jumped to AutoComplete rather than Google Suggest. — Matthew Jones, Jun 25 '09 at 17:22
Ah, the way you wrote it made me think you were referring to Google Suggest. Never mind then. — Steve Wortham, Jun 25 '09 at 17:24
Are we looking for terms that, to the lay person, are synonyms? I suspect you're actually asking for terms that really are synonyms — Barry Brown, Jun 25 '09 at 17:24
@Barry Brown you are correct. I want terms that actually are synonymous. If you want to submit commonly-confused terms, that's fine, just mark it as such. — Matthew Jones, Jun 25 '09 at 17:26
Changed title (because I hated the original) to something nearer to the sprit of the question (but still not right, I fear). — , Jun 25 '09 at 17:30
@Neil Butterworth - Changed the title to reflect what I meant. Hope it is clear now. — Matthew Jones, Jun 25 '09 at 17:31
@Mathew Then please don't just rollback - make the title better. — , Jun 25 '09 at 17:32
Browser == Search Engine ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MwTvtyrUQ — steamer25, Jun 25 '09 at 17:33
Hey Downvoters! Mind telling me why you do not like this question? — Matthew Jones, Jun 25 '09 at 18:10
What I don't like this that you want both synonyms and often confused non-synonyms in the same question. Are the answers one or the other? You say to mark the commonly-confused accordingly, but did the poster forget or do i just not agree? — Aardvark, Jun 25 '09 at 18:48
It was not clear in the original question what it was asking, so some of the earlier answers did not mark their answers if they were not synonymous. — Matthew Jones, Jun 25 '09 at 18:50

victor hugo · Answer 1 · 2009-06-25T18:43:34.627

41

parameter == argument

Parameter is the variable in the declaration of function or method.

Argument is the actual value of this variable that gets passed to function.

I like this one because it happens even to programmers

edited Jun 25 '09 at 18:43

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:23

victor hugo

35,514
12
68
79

2

@Naveen: Will you accept Klingon jokes to answer that question? – Michael Myers Jun 25 '09 at 17:28
34

A parameter is a "hole" that the *developer* leaves in the function *definition*, an argument is what the *user* of that function plugs into that "hole", when *calling* the function. – Jörg W Mittag Jun 25 '09 at 17:28
@mmyers: I know Javascript as well as Klingon! – Powerlord Jun 25 '09 at 17:47
1

This should be an SO question itself. – Barry Brown Jun 25 '09 at 22:46
1

@Barry It is already http://stackoverflow.com/questions/156767/whats-the-difference-between-an-argument-and-a-parameter – victor hugo Jun 25 '09 at 22:51
3

These are also referred to, respectively as "formal parameter" and "actual parameter"; see also http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/Notes/chap34/ch34_3.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parameter_(computer_science). – Steve Melnikoff Jun 27 '09 at 15:20
I was thinking to add another misconception: Klingon == cool? I don't think so, hehehe – victor hugo Jul 10 '09 at 15:15
@Jörg W Mittag : By which I assume you mean the developer forgets to protect his 'hole'/SQL code against apostrophes, and the user 'plugs' all sorts of ungrammatic it's/its/Sta'ck Overfollow nonsense into the 'hole'. Clearly the user is more wrong here. – Alistair Knock Jul 31 '09 at 20:51

score 40 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 26 '09 at 14:25

40

I've seen this a few times on this site:

Authentication != Authorization

Authentication: Your identity
Authorization: Your privileges

answered Jun 26 '09 at 14:25

Eric

92,005
12
114
115

3

+1 for another common misconception. – Matthew Jones Jun 26 '09 at 14:28
5

Authentication is "are you who you say you are?". Authorization is "given who you are, what are you allowed to do?". – Adam Rosenfield Jun 27 '09 at 01:26
This is seriously a misconception to some people? – Janie Jul 22 '09 at 22:35
@Janie: if it weren't, then people would have an easy time understanding OpenID. I've stopped using OpenID because no one except programmers seems to get it (and many programmers don't even seem to get it). – Dinah Jul 31 '09 at 21:06
+1 good to see it pointed out, (again!) – Mitch Wheat Aug 09 '09 at 04:05
1

The HTTP spec screwed this up originally. HTTP 401 says, "unauthorized" but should really be "unauthenticated". http://stackoverflow.com/a/6937030/155892 – Mark Sowul Jan 11 '17 at 14:28

score 16 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:30

16

Users often confuse "web browser" with "the Internet." I'll hear them say "I'm going to the Internet," which means "I'm launching a web browser."

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:30

Barry Brown

20,233
15
69
105

15

"my internet is broken" – Chris Simpson Jun 25 '09 at 17:32
6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MwTvtyrUQ – Jim Puls Jun 25 '09 at 17:42
1

LOL 3.5 out of 50 got it right :D – MiseryIndex Jun 25 '09 at 17:54
3

That video goes to show me that users just want to get work done and don't care what the various components are called. It's pointless to try to distinguish between IE and Firefox, Google and Yahoo, and search engines and browsers; to them it's just "the Internet." – Barry Brown Jun 25 '09 at 18:59
@Barry Brown and that (at least for many people) combining separate things that users see as "related" is helpful. (Like having a search bar built into the browser.) I bet that's part of why Google Chrome has one box that's both a URL bar and a search bar. – Tyler Jun 27 '09 at 00:26
Actually it is not specific to the Internet. You get that confusion every time you develop an app which is an interface to another system. – Nicolas Simonet Jul 31 '09 at 21:24
1

My mother often calls me and tells me she "deleted the Internet" and doesn't know what to do. I finally got her to save the Internet onto a floppy in case this happens again. – bta May 03 '10 at 22:29
That video's actually pretty misleading since answering "A browser is the software that allows you to navigate to and display web pages" is technically not correct. That's describing a *web* browser, which is a specialized type of browser. File browsers like Nautilus or **Windows** Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer) are still browsers. I'm sure you could even apply the term "Browser" outside of computing - it's so vague. – Ponkadoodle Oct 23 '12 at 22:26

score 15 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:17

15

"CPU" = tower

A favorite term I have heard customers use.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:17

p.campbell

98,673
67
256
322

12

butbutbut that's the "hard drive" – Jeremy Smyth Jun 25 '09 at 18:48
That's the CPU?! That's gotta be one big motherboard! – CiscoIPPhone Jun 27 '09 at 00:37
Where I work, there is an employe that refer to the tower as the "hard disk". It confused me once or twice before I get it. – Mathieu Pagé Jun 30 '09 at 19:37
2

Although I understand the difference, I'm guilty of using this colloquialism :( – Dinah Jul 31 '09 at 21:07

score 13 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 25 '09 at 20:12

13

AJAX and Javascript.
A lot of times I hear semi-technical people interchanging the two terms. Like: "Can't you animate that image using AJAX". Which is of course just plain javascript.

edited Jun 25 '09 at 20:12

p.campbell

98,673
67
256
322

answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:41

Pim Jager

31,965
17
72
98

6

♫ Use AJAX... the foaming cleanser! ♪ – Michael Myers Jun 26 '09 at 14:16
I was once told by a Sr Software Engineer that she was using ajax to sort a table. Before you think she was right, she was only using JS lol. This is the same one that asked me what a .sql file was and how to open it. – Allen Rice Jun 26 '09 at 14:56
JavaScript is just AJAX, without the AX. – Brad Gilbert Jun 27 '09 at 04:56
Definitely +1 for the quavers. – Alistair Knock Jul 31 '09 at 20:55

score 12 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:18

12

"Client" is the big, perennial classic term that means so many things, all within the context of almost every development project.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:18

Jeremy Smyth

23,270
2
52
65

1

"Client" isn't being used as a synonym, though. It just has many different definitions. – Barry Brown Jun 25 '09 at 17:51
6

client gets even more fun when using X – cobbal Jun 25 '09 at 18:36
oh the amount of times I've gotten into the XClient debate :P – Jeremy Smyth Jun 25 '09 at 18:48
One thing is always for sure though.....clients are always getting S - E - R - V - E - D, OHHHHHH SNAPPPPP!!!! – Janie Jul 22 '09 at 22:37

barfoon · Answer 7 · 2009-06-25T18:59:28.790

12

Hard drive space != RAM

edited Jun 25 '09 at 18:59

answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:34

barfoon

27,481
26
92
138

I agree; the trouble is, the distinction is never worth making because the user who is mentioning either thing is actually talking about something entirely unrelated anyway, oftentimes the orientation of the USB connector. – Alistair Knock Jul 31 '09 at 20:56
Blame this on whoever decided to call them both memory! This rears its ugly head even more when people talk about their digital camera (or whatever) having x amount of memory. The term memory is or course accurate but people think that the word "memory" only refers to one thing. This short term vs long term stuff is understandably confusing to layfolk. – Dinah Jul 31 '09 at 21:10

score 10 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 19:39

Verification == Validation

From wikipedia:

It is sometimes said that validation can be expressed by the query "Are you building the right thing?" and verification by "Are you building the thing right?". "Building the right thing" refers back to the user's needs, while "building it right" checks that the specifications be correctly implemented by the system. In some contexts, it is required to have written requirements for both as well as formal procedures or protocols for determining compliance.

@skaffman good one! Hear this all the time. +1. – Matthew Jones Jun 25 '09 at 19:49 — Matthew Jones, Jun 25 '09 at 19:49

score 9 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:37

9

"open source" == "free software"

If you watch Revolution OS, you'll hear Richard Stallman use the term "free software" and others like Linus Torvalds and Bruce Perens use "open source." After watching the film, I think they're talking about the same thing, but disagreeing (vehemently in some cases) on what to call it.

(I hope none of them are reading this.)

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:37

Barry Brown

20,233
15
69
105

The software itself is free, what is not is the documentation, support, manuals, etc, etc... – victor hugo Jun 25 '09 at 17:47
1

And neither term should be confused for "license-free". – i_am_jorf Jun 25 '09 at 18:39
2

They are talking about the same thing in the practical sense, but very different things in the philosophical sense. Free Software is a social movement. Open Source software is somewhere between a development technique and a way to talk about Free Software without sounding like Stallman, inclusive. The difference in the Free Software Foundation's definition of Free Software and the Open Source Initiative's definition of Open Source Software is almost trivial, though. – David Thornley Jun 25 '09 at 19:48

score 9 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 27 '09 at 01:07

9

"Inconceivable"

I do not think it means what you think it means.

answered Jun 27 '09 at 01:07

Apocalisp

34,834
8
106
155

1

I think it means what I think it does. – User Jun 27 '09 at 20:45
My name is Diego Montoya, you killed my Father - prepare to die! – belugabob Jun 30 '09 at 15:09
2

@belugabob: it's "Inigo Montoya" (see http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003786/) - awesome quote though. – system PAUSE Jun 30 '09 at 16:00
I knew it was wrong, as I was typing it, but went with the flow of the moment. :-) – belugabob Jun 30 '09 at 20:43
Inconceivable \In'con*ceiv"a*ble\, adjective [Pref. in- not + conceivable: cf. F. inconcevable.] Not conceivable; incapable of being conceived by the mind; not explicable by the human intellect, or by any known principles or agencies; incomprehensible; as, it is inconceivable to us how the will acts in producing muscular motion. – Tester101 Jul 31 '09 at 20:41

Matthew Jones · Answer 11 · 2009-06-26T19:03:28.973

8

I once heard a junior dev use NULL and VOID interchangeably.

Scariest thing I'd ever heard.

edited Jun 26 '09 at 19:03

answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:04

Matthew Jones

25,644
17
102
155

wow i've actually never heard someone confuse the 2 – Allen Rice Jun 26 '09 at 15:08
1

Void is the absence of a variable, Null is a variable with undefined/zero value. – Brad Gilbert Jun 27 '09 at 04:58
4

Danger, Brad Gilbert! [re: zero] – Alistair Knock Jul 31 '09 at 20:58

score 7 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:23

7

Drop down = Combo box

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:23

Tim S. Van Haren

8,861
2
30
34

Or Picklist in the MSCRM world. – Matt Jun 25 '09 at 17:26
so how its different? one is on the web and on on the desktop? – IAdapter Jul 01 '09 at 07:45
1

Drop down list = what you you get when you use the select tag in HTML. Combo box = a combination of a drop-down list or list box and a single-line textbox where the user can either type a value directly into the control or choose from the list of existing options (e.g. the font selector in the Formatting toolbar in Word or Excel.) – mikej Jul 17 '09 at 15:24

score 7 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 27 '09 at 00:32

7

Wiki != Wikipedia. (As in, "Well I looked it up on Wiki, and it says...")

This one is not really programming related, but it could cause a problem for someone working at a company that had their own internal wiki.

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About

Some wikis that are not Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wikis

answered Jun 27 '09 at 00:32

Tyler

21,762
11
61
90

1

Yes, I hear that one all the time and it bugs me. – David Johnstone Jun 27 '09 at 01:11
I find it hilarious that your list of wikis that aren't Wikipedia is a Wikipedia page. =) – chazomaticus Jul 31 '09 at 21:04
I understand the difference but I admit that I'm guilty of this one as well. My spouse and I often say we'll "look it up in Wiki." – Dinah Jul 31 '09 at 21:11
@chazomaticus, I hope that didn't confuse people. It's just that if I need a list of something, I usually go to Wikipedia to find it. =) – Tyler Aug 01 '09 at 03:07

score 7 · Answer 14 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:40

7

Java == Javascript

answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:40

peSHIr

6,279
1
34
46

score 5 · Answer 15 · answered Jun 26 '09 at 14:15

5

Winchester == hard disk drive.

It ain't!

alt text http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Winchester_Model_1873_Short_Rifle_1495.jpg/300px-Winchester_Model_1873_Short_Rifle_1495.jpg

answered Jun 26 '09 at 14:15

User

30,403
22
79
107

12

Winchester refers to the first hard drive with a sealed head/disk assembly released by IBM in 1973. It was named after the Winchester 30-30 rifle due to its original capacity of two 30MB platters. All modern disk drives use this technology or a derivative of it. That's why some people refer to them as 'Winchesters'. – Phaedrus Jun 27 '09 at 00:42
The only times I hear people call them winchesters is as a joke. I do it myself when I encounter a particularly pedantic individual, just to wind them up. I also call them "spindles", which works even better. – skaffman Jun 27 '09 at 16:29
Winchester is the most common way to refer to a hard drive in Russian. Also called Vint (a screw/bolt, but also a short version of Vinchester, a Russian pronunciation of Winchester). – elifiner Jun 28 '09 at 20:26

score 4 · Answer 16 · answered Jun 27 '09 at 00:16

Scope != Lifetime

Scope :: is the collection of statements where a variable can be referenced. Those statements are called the referencing environment of that variable.

Lifetime :: is the association between a variable(the name) and its place of storage in memory(address).

score 4 · Answer 17 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:45

Closure == lambda. In reality, they are distinct things: lambda is any anonymous function, and may or may not close over some variables; closure is any function that closes over some variables, and may or may not be anonymous. For example, the original Pascal had no lambdas, but it had closures (in form of nested functions).

score 4 · Answer 18 · answered Feb 18 '11 at 14:49

4

deprecate != depreciate

Seriously people. Features are not depreciated from upcoming releases of software. They are deprecated.

answered Feb 18 '11 at 14:49

Nathan DeWitt

6,511
8
46
66

score 3 · Answer 19 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:14

3

hard disk drive = computer

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:14

Fredrik Mörk

155,851
29
291
343

1

I get that all the time. People call that black thing under their desk the "hard disk" instead of the computer. – Barry Brown Jun 25 '09 at 17:17

score 3 · Answer 20 · edited Aug 06 '09 at 03:08

3

System == Library == Framework == Program == Application == Software

edited Aug 06 '09 at 03:08

OscarRyz

196,001
113
385
569

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:20

victor hugo

35,514
12
68
79

score 3 · Answer 21 · edited Jun 25 '09 at 18:38

3

There are 180 pages of preferred terms in the "Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications," which is a great book for technical writers, but I think programmers should have it too.

Many of the entries mention unacceptable (or outdated) equivalents.

Example: "system tray Do not use. Use notification area instead."

edited Jun 25 '09 at 18:38

p.campbell

98,673
67
256
322

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:40

Nosredna

83,000
15
95
122

7

Yeah, right. I know where and what my system tray is. Without reading that, I wouldn't have a clue where or what the notification area is. – David Thornley Jun 25 '09 at 19:49
Haha. That's what I thought, too. That's why that one jumped out at me. :-) – Nosredna Jun 25 '09 at 20:08
1

http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/09/10/54831.aspx – CesarB Jun 25 '09 at 22:51
3

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1="system+tray"&word2="notification+area" – Nosredna Jun 25 '09 at 23:38
I think I will end my life a happy man if I never catch a glimpse of that book. – Alistair Knock Jul 31 '09 at 21:01

score 3 · Answer 22 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 20:11

3

PowerPoint != the projector

It really bothers me when people say "I'll just put it up on the PowerPoint" and then they go to Microsoft Word or something instead.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 20:11

Paige Ruten

172,675
36
177
197

score 3 · Answer 23 · answered Jul 01 '09 at 13:37

3

Bug - Incident - Failure - Error - Defect - Problem - Issue

answered Jul 01 '09 at 13:37

Cedric Meury

953
1
7
19

1

Good one. Some of these terms are also confusingly used to describe the "ticket"/"incident" where the bug, issue etc is recorded. E.g. Jira overloads the term ["issue"](https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA/What+is+an+Issue). Bugs/defects and issues can mean different things, e.g. a bug is something that is not working properly with the software whereas an issue is something that has been raised as a concern, e.g. it may cause problems now or later down the line (e.g. a problem with the design or architecture). – Steve Chambers Jun 08 '15 at 15:23

score 3 · Answer 24 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:29

Some users will use the term "downloading" to generally mean "transferring" instead of distinguishing between "downloading" and "uploading." So, if they say "The error happened right after I downloaded the data," it might refer to another part of the process than what a tech person would take it to mean.

score 3 · Answer 25 · answered Aug 06 '09 at 03:13

3

One that really turned my head around was someone in my QA department referring to a null value and a blank value as being one and the same. I smiled and asked if they were serious and they said, "of course they're the same." I tried to explain as simply as I could that they were not the same and it just didn't register with them.

/matt

answered Aug 06 '09 at 03:13

Matt Dewey

137
1
1
11

I recommend this question. Perhaps a simple way to explain it: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2694204/explaining-null-and-empty-to-your-6-year-old – Armstrongest May 03 '10 at 14:33

score 3 · Answer 26 · answered May 03 '10 at 21:59

3

PC != Windows

PC means personal computer. Apple invented the PC. But, now it's taken a life of its own as anything that has Windows on it.

In this same vein, people tend to compare "Mac" or "PC" when it should be "OS X" or "Windows"... or "Mac vs. ThinkPad/Satellite"

Of course, that would be more difficult to put into an ad.

answered May 03 '10 at 21:59

Armstrongest

15,181
13
67
106

1

While there have been many "Personal Computers" over the years, IBM started the term with their "PC" models, that ran Microsoft DOS. Many other companies made "PC-Compatible" machines, and eventually the term became the generic for an MS-DOS box. While Windows has replaced DOS in the same space, the term carried over. "Wintel" is perhaps a more descriptive term for the platform, but this is a case where the common usage rather than accuracy makes the definition. – mbmcavoy May 03 '10 at 22:48
True, but it's really only got steam as "anything that's not a Mac" in recent years, in part due to the Apple ads. I always remembered them being called: "IBM compatible" not "PC Compatible". Compaq was the first one to create a clone. – Armstrongest May 04 '10 at 05:59

score 2 · Answer 27 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:22

2

computer == system == workstation == machine == box

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:22

Dan Tao

125,917
54
300
447

2

So this is a computer? http://www.geocities.com/pubot5/cardboardbox.jpg – Ólafur Waage Jun 25 '09 at 20:16
1

"...terms that mean the same thing *or don't*..." – Eli Jun 25 '09 at 21:51
@Ólafur: One of the guys I work with has asked me on more than one occasion, "What box are you using?" and every time it takes me a moment to overcome my initial confusion. Because the image you linked to is exactly what appears in my head. – Dan Tao Jun 26 '09 at 12:03
@Eli is your joke bone broken? – Ólafur Waage Jun 26 '09 at 12:53
@Eli: "Please differentiate between the two." – Ponkadoodle May 03 '10 at 22:09
geocities is no more! :( – n611x007 Oct 23 '12 at 07:01

Tim S. Van Haren · Answer 28 · 2009-06-30T21:06:25.517

2

Hyperlink = Link = Anchor

I've run across people who use these terms interchangeably, and of course, they aren't the same thing.

edited Jun 30 '09 at 21:06

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:31

Tim S. Van Haren

8,861
2
30
34

But the 'link' tag in HTML is distinct from the 'a' tag. :-( – system PAUSE Jun 30 '09 at 16:03
1

You're right of course. I think when the question had originally been asked, it wasn't clear that these were meant to be terms that are synonymous, rather than terms that are commonly used as being synonymous, if that makes any sense. I'll edit my response. :) – Tim S. Van Haren Jun 30 '09 at 21:05

score 2 · Answer 29 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:33

2

Whenever dealing with Departments of Education you must learn that "system" means software and "technology" means hardware.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:33

Dour High Arch

21,513
29
75
90

It's a "system"! "A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole."[1] that include both software *and* hardware in the case of a computer. 1:http://www.answers.com/topic/system – Ponkadoodle May 03 '10 at 22:12

score 2 · Answer 30 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:33

2

Host == Server

.. Which is untrue :)

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:33

cwap

11,087
8
47
61

Why is this not true? If something is hosting something, it's 'serving' it, therefore it's a server. – Daniel Sorichetti Jul 28 '10 at 00:52
Yeah, your logic makes sense, which is why so many people (including myself) have had it wrong for so long time. In network terminology, a host can be a client, a server, a bridge-adapter etc... A host is simply a node in the topology, while a server is the node that accepts incoming connections. – cwap Jul 28 '10 at 10:33
aren't these two different types of "host"? the topology one and the server one (should it be existing). – n611x007 Oct 23 '12 at 07:02

score 2 · Answer 31 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:50

Value Object == Value Type

Value Objects are classes representing immutable attributes, as in Domain Driven Design.

Value Types are variables whose values are held on the stack (int, bool, struct, etc). These are spoken of in relation to Reference Types, which live on the heap and have memory pointers.

score 2 · Answer 32 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:53

2

Also Architecture is a term that requires constant clarification. It means topology to some. To others it means class diagrams, the product of software engineering. To others it is just a catch all for the above and umpteen other concepts.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:53

jlembke

13,217
11
42
56

score 2 · Answer 33 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:07

2

Operating System == Kernel who manages hardware and gives a very basic API vs. the whole software distribution

answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:07

Adrian Panasiuk

7,249
5
33
54

victor hugo · Answer 34 · 2009-06-25T21:49:10.213

2

Programmer == Developer == Software engineer

You need developers, not programmers by Eric Sink

edited Jun 25 '09 at 21:49

answered Jun 25 '09 at 19:26

victor hugo

35,514
12
68
79

== software engineer. I've never actually paid much attention to my title, but I've had a fairly large number of jobs doing essentially the same thing, and the titles have varied widely. – David Thornley Jun 25 '09 at 20:21
1

I'd disagree and say programmer does not necessarily == developer. At least in the context of web development. – Cuga Jun 26 '09 at 14:26
@Cuga yes that's precisely my post's reason ;) – victor hugo Jun 26 '09 at 16:48

score 2 · Answer 35 · answered Jun 26 '09 at 17:33

2

I've had this one come up when trying to explain Cocoa development

Apple != Mac != Mac OS

Apple is a company

Mac is a brand

Mac OS is an operating system

The same is often true for

Microsoft != Windows

answered Jun 26 '09 at 17:33

Paulo

4,275
2
20
20

4

And MAC means Media Access Control. – Dour High Arch Jun 27 '09 at 01:07
1

...And mac addreess is not 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014 – OscarRyz Aug 06 '09 at 03:10
I thought mac was a waterproof raincoat? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackintosh – n611x007 Oct 23 '12 at 07:10

score 2 · Answer 36 · answered Jul 01 '09 at 13:43

2

Compiler == Programming Language == IDE

answered Jul 01 '09 at 13:43

Dario

48,658
8
97
130

score 2 · Answer 37 · answered Jul 17 '09 at 15:17

2

Memory == Hard Drive as in "My PC has 30GB of memory!"

answered Jul 17 '09 at 15:17

Kelly S. French

12,198
10
63
93

3

Well, "My PC has (roughly) 30GB of memory" is no longer unrealistic on x64... – Marc Gravell Sep 11 '09 at 12:07
hdd == ram got far more points.. interesting – n611x007 Oct 23 '12 at 07:12

score 2 · Answer 38 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 21:06

2

Declaration != Definition

I heard so many times people confusing the two that now I confuse them myself.

answered Jul 31 '09 at 21:06

Stefano Borini

138,652
96
297
431

score 2 · Answer 39 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 21:17

2

Hang == crash == some error message the user didn't even read.

answered Jul 31 '09 at 21:17

erikkallen

33,800
13
85
120

score 2 · Answer 40 · answered Aug 06 '09 at 03:06

2

IDE != framework

Q: "What frameworks do you consider yourself to be proficient in?"

A: "Visual Studio"

Not mine, but a friend told me this yesterday. About died, both from laughing too hard and crying over the sad state of humanity.

answered Aug 06 '09 at 03:06

Matthew Jones

25,644
17
102
155

score 2 · Answer 41 · answered May 03 '10 at 22:27

2

In many video-games, I see computer controlled players labeled "CPU".

CPU != Bot

answered May 03 '10 at 22:27

Ponkadoodle

5,777
5
38
62

I think it means that the choices that decide the (usually virtual) acts of those bots are made "*in the CPU*", instead of "*in player n's brain*". – n611x007 Oct 23 '12 at 07:14

score 1 · Answer 42 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:27

1

Client == End User

They can be the same person, but more often then not the one writing the check to you is not the one that uses the thing you built.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 17:27

Joseph

25,330
8
76
125

but but... isn't the client software and the end user a person? – fretje Jun 27 '09 at 15:48

score 1 · Answer 43 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:39

1

History and Travellog (as applied to webbrowsers).

History is the list of all websites you have visted ever (or for the last N days).
Travellog is the list of sites in your current session that are accessible via Back and Forward. And yes, I realize the JavaScript object for this is called history.

answered Jun 25 '09 at 18:39

i_am_jorf

53,608
15
131
222

I guess Javascript uses history because travellog term is so unknown and it may refer to 'current session history' which is the same – victor hugo Jun 27 '09 at 17:10
WPF calls the latter thing a "journal". – Roger Lipscombe Jul 13 '09 at 08:10
I think what you call a travellog is called "session history" in some places in Firefox. Which actually makes sense. – Tyler Feb 18 '11 at 21:14

score 1 · Answer 44 · answered Jun 27 '12 at 07:10

A bilingual (swedish - english) misunderstanding :

"Fält" which translates to field, but in swedish programming books is array. (It is not the books that are wrong, what i'm saying is that sometimes when newbies try to ask for help online they ask about fields, when they actually mean array.

score 1 · Answer 45 · answered Jul 17 '09 at 15:12

1

process = procedure = plans

answered Jul 17 '09 at 15:12

Matthew Jones

25,644
17
102
155

Kelsey · Answer 46 · 2010-05-03T22:21:47.107

1

Google == Internet

also

Google == Search

Talked to many people that think Google IS the internet. If Google shutdown, that would be the end of being 'online'.

Where did you find xyz? Oh, on Google. Where is xyz stored? In Google.

Note: This also says a lot for Google's ability to sell their brand. When your company's name is well known as a verb 'to Google' you know you are successful.

edited May 03 '10 at 22:21

answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:14

Kelsey

47,246
16
124
162

Actually, theoretically if the "Google" (as in all search engines) were to shutdown temporarily, you could argue that it would become the end of being online. All you would know was what was in your bookmarks/delicious etc. and the URLs you knew by memory (SO, xkcd, umm...). So although the word Google is now generic, the concept of search - or as I'm told it is in 2009, discoverability - is more akin to what the 'internet' is about to most people, than the content and the concept of hyperlinking. The bad old days of site1-site2-site3 link following rarely exist now, due to search. – Alistair Knock Jul 31 '09 at 21:05
1

I disagree Alistair. There is a whole lot more to the internet than Browsing and searching. Look at all the mobile apps, B2B commerce Online Storage, email etc. Search engines just facilitate browsing web sites. – Armstrongest May 03 '10 at 22:03

score 1 · Answer 47 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:41

1

C# .Net (Ahhhhh!)

answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:41

peSHIr

6,279
1
34
46

Eclipse · Answer 48 · 2009-07-31T20:53:04.470

Pass values by reference != pass references by value.

Pass values by reference in C++:

struct Bar
{
   int X;
   Bar(int x) : X(x) {}
   Bar &operator=(const Bar &rhs) { X = rhs.X; }
};

void foo(Bar &b, Bar &b2)
{
    b = Bar(1);
    b2.X = 1;
}

int main()
{
    Bar b(0);
    Bar b2(0);
    foo(b, b2);
    cout << b.X << ", " << b2.X; // prints 1, 1
}

Pass references by value (C# / Java)

class Bar
{
   public int X;
   public Bar(int x) { X = x; }
}

void foo(Bar b, Bar b2)
{
    b = new Bar(1);
    b2.X = 1;
}

int main()
{
    Bar b = new Bar(0);
    Bar b2 = new Bar(0);
    foo(b, b2);
    Console.Write("{0}, {1}", b.X. b2.X); // prints 0, 1
}

score 0 · Answer 49 · answered Jun 27 '09 at 15:33

From non-embedded software engineers:

RAM == program memory == data memory

For typical lower-end embedded processors (e.g. PIC, STM32, etc), code and constant data are stored in, and normally accessed from, flash; non-constant data is stored in RAM.

1 Mb == small

For these kinds of processors, 1 Mb of flash is a lot (though not as much as it used to be). For example, the STM32 that I'm using currently using has 128 Kb of flash, and 8 Kb of RAM.

At the other end of the spectrum, the smallest PIC10F has 384 bytes of flash, and 16 bytes of RAM.

No one will need more than 637 kb of memory for a personal computer. — n611x007, Oct 23 '12 at 07:31

score 0 · Answer 50 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:41

"Find as you type" == "incremental search": The feature in Firefox and some other programs where, as you are entering your search term in a Find dialog/field, the document jumps to the position of the position of the next search result based on what you have entered so far (without you actually having to click a "Search" button to initiate the search action).

This is primarily handy to avoid typing (for example) "incremental search[enter]" when typing "incr" is probably good enough to find what you're looking for!

This came to mind as a meaning of "find as you type" different than the example given in the original question!

score 0 · Answer 51 · answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:45

0

Q: "Where did you get this file?"
A: "I got it offline."

answered Jul 31 '09 at 20:45

Tester101

8,042
13
55
78

score 0 · Answer 52 · answered May 03 '10 at 15:00

PowerPoint Presentation == Any Computerbased Presentation (not necessary made with PowerPoint)

Always when I hear People talking about a presentation made and presented with computer and projector, they say "PowerPoint presentation" because they haven't got any term which is more general. Most of them use OpenOffice, in fact.

score 0 · Answer 53 · answered May 03 '10 at 22:37

0

I get this one way too often:

"Specification" == "Suggestion"

When you're on a hardware team and you have software teams treating your hardware specs as "optional guidelines", it makes you want to slap somebody.

answered May 03 '10 at 22:37

bta

43,959
6
69
99

score -1 · Answer 54 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

-1

Search box != Address Bar

Time after time, people type a Url in the search box ( be it Google, Yahoo, Bing, Teoma )

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

1
1

answered May 03 '10 at 14:37

Armstrongest

15,181
13
67
106

In Google's Chrome browser (and others, most likely), these are indeed one and the same. – bta May 03 '10 at 22:34
1

Hmmm... you mean `Google's` browser has only a search box? Remember, there is also a search box on the Google.com page. People type URLs in that search box as well. – Armstrongest May 04 '10 at 06:04

What different terms mean the same thing (or don't, but people think they do)?

54 Answers54

Search box != Address Bar

Linked