Are apps programs?
-
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
Hmm. Pedantic mode
**ON**, click. To my mind, an 'app' can consist of one or more programs, along with ancillary data sources, network connections, devices, and so on. The app is the whole that lets the user accomplish some objective. A program may be a component part, either the UI the user deals with, an underlying service, or some other unit of executing code. Pedantic mode**OFF**, click.Software Zen:
delete this; -
Say that again after your schedule has become governed by how long it takes itunes to start up when you connect the phone to your computer (which you have to do for just about everything).
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Psst. You can turn that off, you know.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
Hi Herbie, Once-upon-a-time, before the Age of Silicon Ubiquity (our present era), "apps" were lowly slaves; they had no personal names; and, it was illegal for them to ever refer to themselves, in writing, using upper-case. If an "app" ever used the word "application:" that was anathema, and carried an automatic death sentence. Programs ruled the world: Programs had Agendas; Programs had Specifications; Programs were ministered to by a special Priesthood in the holy-name of the Creator of the Universe, "MainFrame," who fed them sacramental punched-cards, and, later, sacred tape-reels. Programs constantly humiliated and abused "apps:" often forcing them to perform bizarre dances, like the Hully-Gully, and the Twist, while they sneered, and jeered. And, everything, then, depended on Programs. But, as you know, the Revolution ... happened. Boys in Garages who played games with Cracker-Box whistles that let them call themselves on telephones around-the-world, took advantage of a new mutant breed of computer devices that were incarnated as "Chips Off the Old Wafer." And, one thing, as always, led to another, and "apps" were, at last, emancipated, freed, while the old Hierophants of Programs, and their temples of MainFrame, were relegated to the cultural back-waters, and their former Priesthood de-mystified, de-throned. Today, "Applications" can "stand tall," and can claim to be "Programs" without shame, or reprisal; they can have algorithms, and specifications, and they are free to do break-dancing, twerking, and Gangnam, to attentive, and appreciative, audiences. It is a much better world, now: in fact, it may be, as Dr. Pangloss taught, "the best of all possible worlds." Depending on who you listen to, perhaps a third, or more, of the world's population may have some access to the Internet. Many of the poorest people on the Earth can now see all the good things that the well-to-do of the Earth have and enjoy, which must be very up-lifting for them indeed, and help them forget small details, like the fact their drinking water is full of toxic chemicals, the air they breathe full of toxic particles, and the habitat they, and their ancestors, lived in, lived-off of, is more, and more degraded. We have FaceBook, Second Life, Doom, and Twitter, and Linked-In, now, where millions can immerse themselves in "virtual worlds," which is a very soothing way to forget about disturbing things, like one-million Syrian refugee children. A country, like the USA, can be proud of the fact that se
-
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
App is a short form for Apple Program.
-
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
Quote:
Are apps programs?
To me they are. However, I think some people think of apps as a small program that is installed on a tablet or smart phone. I had a fried of mine who knew I was a Software Engineer ask if I know how to write "apps." :)
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
-
Psst. You can turn that off, you know.
Software Zen:
delete this;Yup, but you can't do hardly anything without itunes. Want to have access to a bunch of PDF textbooks? Upload them to the phone with itunes. Want to open them with a different PDF reader? Upload another copy of each to the phone with itunes. Want to wi-fi browse through the files on your computer and open them on the phone? You can't, unless the app you browse with has a built-in decoder for the types of files (so you have to plug in and use itunes to upload them to the phone). The only way around itunes is by storing everything on the cloud, and even that's only a partial workaround. Oh, and the phone won't tell you where it's storing the files, either, so you can't move/delete/access them without... well, take a guess. Compare that to android, which has default programs for file types (and if there's not a default, it asks you which app you want to open them in), a perfectly accessible file system (but who wants to use Total Commander to transfer files over wi-fi, when you can plug in and use itunes, eh?), etc. As a techie, you'll soon find lots of things to hate about the iphone. Why don't you just get a shell for android (they call them "launchers"), if you're not happy with how it looks/works -- if it's apps you're not happy with, most of them are also available in the istore, so they're not really relevant (just install different/better apps). heh. There's an iphone shell[^].
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
-
Yup, but you can't do hardly anything without itunes. Want to have access to a bunch of PDF textbooks? Upload them to the phone with itunes. Want to open them with a different PDF reader? Upload another copy of each to the phone with itunes. Want to wi-fi browse through the files on your computer and open them on the phone? You can't, unless the app you browse with has a built-in decoder for the types of files (so you have to plug in and use itunes to upload them to the phone). The only way around itunes is by storing everything on the cloud, and even that's only a partial workaround. Oh, and the phone won't tell you where it's storing the files, either, so you can't move/delete/access them without... well, take a guess. Compare that to android, which has default programs for file types (and if there's not a default, it asks you which app you want to open them in), a perfectly accessible file system (but who wants to use Total Commander to transfer files over wi-fi, when you can plug in and use itunes, eh?), etc. As a techie, you'll soon find lots of things to hate about the iphone. Why don't you just get a shell for android (they call them "launchers"), if you're not happy with how it looks/works -- if it's apps you're not happy with, most of them are also available in the istore, so they're not really relevant (just install different/better apps). heh. There's an iphone shell[^].
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Mark_Wallace wrote:
you can't do hardly anything without itunes
Ah. I'd be inclined to apply the same logic I do to Lotus Notes here at work. Bloatus Goatse takes anywhere from 45 seconds to over a minute to start up, so I have it in the Startup folder. I just leave it running all the time, rather than wait for the stupid pig to wake up. I'll admit, dealing with the stench of jasmine tea and fluffy bunnies from having iTunes™ running constantly might be annoying, but it's better than the interminable startup delay.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
Not all programs are apps, but all apps are programs. Furthermore, "app" implies something the masses consume, with its negative connotation of "consumerism". A "program" implies something created by geeks for geeks (but not necessarily in the same geek-kingdom.) Marc
-
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
I've seen programs that would barely qualify as an app.
It was broke, so I fixed it.
-
I call "apps" programs as often as I can, because that's what they are. Thanks to Jobs, if you say program when referring to an "app" to a typical none technical user they look at you like your stupid. On a slightly unrelated note, I've pretty much had enough of Android, many of the "apps" are of an absolutely shocking mess. Terrible UI layout, dreadful font choices, constantly crashing for no given reason. Oh and don't even get me started on the advertising that is placed inside the "apps". Like here for example: http://cdn.gsmarena.com/vv/newsimg/12/03/android-ads-battery/gsmarena_001.jpg[^] Looking forward to getting an iPhone at some point.
.-. |o,o| ,| \_\\=/\_ .-""-. ||/\_/\_\\\_\\ /\[\] \_ \_\\ |\_/|(\_)|\\\\ \_|\_o\_LII|\_ \\.\_./// / | ==== | \\ |\\\_/|"\` |\_| ==== |\_| |\_|\_| ||" || || |-|-| ||LI o || |\_|\_| ||'----'|| /\_/ \\\_\\ /\_\_| |\_\_\\Lloyd Atkinson wrote:
I've pretty much had enough of Android, many of the "apps" are of an absolutely shocking mess. Terrible UI layout, dreadful font choices, constantly crashing for no given reason.
What devices have you been running Android on? I have had a Galaxy S2 and now use a Galaxy S4 and have had very few problems with apps crashing.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
-
I usually prefix the word "app" with a "cr". :)
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer
-
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
-
Not all programs are apps, but all apps are programs. Furthermore, "app" implies something the masses consume, with its negative connotation of "consumerism". A "program" implies something created by geeks for geeks (but not necessarily in the same geek-kingdom.) Marc
In a nutshell, my point entirely...
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
-
Hi Herbie, Once-upon-a-time, before the Age of Silicon Ubiquity (our present era), "apps" were lowly slaves; they had no personal names; and, it was illegal for them to ever refer to themselves, in writing, using upper-case. If an "app" ever used the word "application:" that was anathema, and carried an automatic death sentence. Programs ruled the world: Programs had Agendas; Programs had Specifications; Programs were ministered to by a special Priesthood in the holy-name of the Creator of the Universe, "MainFrame," who fed them sacramental punched-cards, and, later, sacred tape-reels. Programs constantly humiliated and abused "apps:" often forcing them to perform bizarre dances, like the Hully-Gully, and the Twist, while they sneered, and jeered. And, everything, then, depended on Programs. But, as you know, the Revolution ... happened. Boys in Garages who played games with Cracker-Box whistles that let them call themselves on telephones around-the-world, took advantage of a new mutant breed of computer devices that were incarnated as "Chips Off the Old Wafer." And, one thing, as always, led to another, and "apps" were, at last, emancipated, freed, while the old Hierophants of Programs, and their temples of MainFrame, were relegated to the cultural back-waters, and their former Priesthood de-mystified, de-throned. Today, "Applications" can "stand tall," and can claim to be "Programs" without shame, or reprisal; they can have algorithms, and specifications, and they are free to do break-dancing, twerking, and Gangnam, to attentive, and appreciative, audiences. It is a much better world, now: in fact, it may be, as Dr. Pangloss taught, "the best of all possible worlds." Depending on who you listen to, perhaps a third, or more, of the world's population may have some access to the Internet. Many of the poorest people on the Earth can now see all the good things that the well-to-do of the Earth have and enjoy, which must be very up-lifting for them indeed, and help them forget small details, like the fact their drinking water is full of toxic chemicals, the air they breathe full of toxic particles, and the habitat they, and their ancestors, lived in, lived-off of, is more, and more degraded. We have FaceBook, Second Life, Doom, and Twitter, and Linked-In, now, where millions can immerse themselves in "virtual worlds," which is a very soothing way to forget about disturbing things, like one-million Syrian refugee children. A country, like the USA, can be proud of the fact that se
I remember the good old days when life was simple and every bit of software was a program. I guess MS started using the term 'application' to distinguish user programs from the BIOS and OS programs. Now we have the contraction 'app' which distinguishes applications from apps. Hmm... I'm confused......
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
-
I call "apps" programs as often as I can, because that's what they are. Thanks to Jobs, if you say program when referring to an "app" to a typical none technical user they look at you like your stupid. On a slightly unrelated note, I've pretty much had enough of Android, many of the "apps" are of an absolutely shocking mess. Terrible UI layout, dreadful font choices, constantly crashing for no given reason. Oh and don't even get me started on the advertising that is placed inside the "apps". Like here for example: http://cdn.gsmarena.com/vv/newsimg/12/03/android-ads-battery/gsmarena_001.jpg[^] Looking forward to getting an iPhone at some point.
.-. |o,o| ,| \_\\=/\_ .-""-. ||/\_/\_\\\_\\ /\[\] \_ \_\\ |\_/|(\_)|\\\\ \_|\_o\_LII|\_ \\.\_./// / | ==== | \\ |\\\_/|"\` |\_| ==== |\_| |\_|\_| ||" || || |-|-| ||LI o || |\_|\_| ||'----'|| /\_/ \\\_\\ /\_\_| |\_\_\\Lloyd Atkinson wrote:
On a slightly unrelated note, I've pretty much had enough of Android, many of the "apps" are of an absolutely shocking mess. Terrible UI layout, dreadful font choices, constantly crashing for no given reason.
Lloyd Atkinson wrote:
Looking forward to getting an iPhone at some point.
You may want to reconsider your logic. Recent analysis showed iOS apps crash more. Here is a Forbes breakdown of why they thing etc. I just saw a recent[^] Too me it sounds like your choice of apps may be poor. I have been on Android for a couple years now and have not had issues with ad placement. But then again I fork over a buck if I am using an app. I just get the ad based to try it and see if I like the functionality.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
-
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'app' implies software that is inferior to a program? Can fully spec'd programs be described as apps?
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
These days I refer to just about any piece of software as an app. For instance, I refer to Word, Excel, etc. as Office apps.
