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Semi-technical language

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  • K kalberts

    Well, I tried it - I am speaking from empirical evidence. Even if computer guys (or rather: one computer guy) is very firm in his claim that there is not, nor has ever been, any other interpretation of a term than his, there still may be other interpretations out in the wild. It is sort of like the first commandment - if there really was only one god, it would be redundant. Look around: There are lots of them. Similar with definitions of "metadata". "Thou shalt not have any other definitions than mine", yet there are lots of them.

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    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #15

    No, that's nonsense; meta-data has a clear definition. There are a lot of people using the word without knowing it, but that does not change the definition. How the word is used outside of IT is not relevant. --edit Metadata - Wikipedia[^]

    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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    • M Mark_Wallace

      Member 7989122 wrote:

      the author and title of a book: When included in an index or catalog, that is obviously metadata

      I wouldn't have said so. IMO, the author and title are attributes of the book, and therefore data. The description used by the indexing process, describing what a book title is, now that is meta-data.

      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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      kalberts
      wrote on last edited by
      #16

      Some say this, some say that... When discussing with librarians, I usually argue that metadata is "data about data": The catalog entry tells about a given book, it isn't the book. While the title page is (part of) the book. "Metadata" is a function, the way we use information: When you use the title and author in the catalog to learn something about the existence of a book, you use it as metadata. When you read the same words on the title page, they are plain data. Few librarians have really thought through the exact definition; they haven't had the need for it, as long as metadata in the form of indexes and catalogs is available. When they start thinking, they usually split into two groups (or more!) with different opinions, and I can quietly pull back while they continue the fighting. I am certainly not absolute about what I suggest to the librarians. Anyone is free to scream out to me: "YOU are wrong!" I hear that from people with so strongly differing ideas about the right answer that I remain calm and relaxed.

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      • L Lost User

        No, that's nonsense; meta-data has a clear definition. There are a lot of people using the word without knowing it, but that does not change the definition. How the word is used outside of IT is not relevant. --edit Metadata - Wikipedia[^]

        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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        kalberts
        wrote on last edited by
        #17

        More than that - it has many clear definitions. Unfortunately, they are not in agreement.

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        • K kalberts

          More than that - it has many clear definitions. Unfortunately, they are not in agreement.

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          Lost User
          wrote on last edited by
          #18

          Nope, just one definition; and if you can't unambiguously explain what it is, you should not be allowed near data. The idea that there are "multiple" definitions is utter nonsense; just like there is only ONE definition for a primary key (albeit it may be worded in different forms). We can communicate about stuff only if we mean the same things with the words we use - that is why we have so many dictionaries. You can try and make up something new, but if it is not in the dictionary, no-one will be able to decipher it (and you become a manager!)

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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          • L Lost User

            Nope, just one definition; and if you can't unambiguously explain what it is, you should not be allowed near data. The idea that there are "multiple" definitions is utter nonsense; just like there is only ONE definition for a primary key (albeit it may be worded in different forms). We can communicate about stuff only if we mean the same things with the words we use - that is why we have so many dictionaries. You can try and make up something new, but if it is not in the dictionary, no-one will be able to decipher it (and you become a manager!)

            Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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            kalberts
            wrote on last edited by
            #19

            Moses tried the same. I wouldn't say he succeeded. Whether you refer to that thick black book or to Wikipedia: People don't live by it (and for the Pentateuch, I'd say: Fortunately). Consider what I write as an observation. If there was only a single understanding of it, it wouldn't be an eternal topic for arguments. Re. "arguments": A colleague of mine went on a week long meeting in an international standards comittee, for working out a new software standard. He came back rather frustrated: From Monday morning until Wednesday night,they had been fiercly fighting over one choice of word: Should it be termed arguments or parameters? Thursday morning they decided not to agree, leave the final decision for later, but use "arguments" for now, as a temporary solution, to get on with the work. But after lunch on Thursday, one guy brought up some arguments for "parameters" being a better temporary solution, and they spent the rest of Thursday and all Friday arguing which is te better temporary solution so they could get on with the work. Those were people who had just as firm thoughts: By defintion, they are arguments! Noooo, the defintion clearly says that they are parameters! As long as there is only one (monotheistic) religion, there is only one god. As long as there is only one definition, there is no argument. Neither assumption holds water.

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            • K kalberts

              Moses tried the same. I wouldn't say he succeeded. Whether you refer to that thick black book or to Wikipedia: People don't live by it (and for the Pentateuch, I'd say: Fortunately). Consider what I write as an observation. If there was only a single understanding of it, it wouldn't be an eternal topic for arguments. Re. "arguments": A colleague of mine went on a week long meeting in an international standards comittee, for working out a new software standard. He came back rather frustrated: From Monday morning until Wednesday night,they had been fiercly fighting over one choice of word: Should it be termed arguments or parameters? Thursday morning they decided not to agree, leave the final decision for later, but use "arguments" for now, as a temporary solution, to get on with the work. But after lunch on Thursday, one guy brought up some arguments for "parameters" being a better temporary solution, and they spent the rest of Thursday and all Friday arguing which is te better temporary solution so they could get on with the work. Those were people who had just as firm thoughts: By defintion, they are arguments! Noooo, the defintion clearly says that they are parameters! As long as there is only one (monotheistic) religion, there is only one god. As long as there is only one definition, there is no argument. Neither assumption holds water.

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              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #20

              Member 7989122 wrote:

              As long as there is only one (monotheistic) religion, there is only one god.

              Religious people will never use scientific definitions and will always make up what they want the word to be. In IT, we have a clear definition. You can make up other crap, but again, doesn't change a thing.

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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              • K kalberts

                Moses tried the same. I wouldn't say he succeeded. Whether you refer to that thick black book or to Wikipedia: People don't live by it (and for the Pentateuch, I'd say: Fortunately). Consider what I write as an observation. If there was only a single understanding of it, it wouldn't be an eternal topic for arguments. Re. "arguments": A colleague of mine went on a week long meeting in an international standards comittee, for working out a new software standard. He came back rather frustrated: From Monday morning until Wednesday night,they had been fiercly fighting over one choice of word: Should it be termed arguments or parameters? Thursday morning they decided not to agree, leave the final decision for later, but use "arguments" for now, as a temporary solution, to get on with the work. But after lunch on Thursday, one guy brought up some arguments for "parameters" being a better temporary solution, and they spent the rest of Thursday and all Friday arguing which is te better temporary solution so they could get on with the work. Those were people who had just as firm thoughts: By defintion, they are arguments! Noooo, the defintion clearly says that they are parameters! As long as there is only one (monotheistic) religion, there is only one god. As long as there is only one definition, there is no argument. Neither assumption holds water.

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                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #21

                Member 7989122 wrote:

                Those were people who had just as firm thoughts: By defintion, they are arguments! Noooo, the defintion clearly says that they are parameters!

                The thing in the signature is a parameter. If you assign a value to the parameter, that is the argument. You provide arguments to the parameter when invoking. Instead of arguing, buy a dictionary.

                Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                • K kalberts

                  Moses tried the same. I wouldn't say he succeeded. Whether you refer to that thick black book or to Wikipedia: People don't live by it (and for the Pentateuch, I'd say: Fortunately). Consider what I write as an observation. If there was only a single understanding of it, it wouldn't be an eternal topic for arguments. Re. "arguments": A colleague of mine went on a week long meeting in an international standards comittee, for working out a new software standard. He came back rather frustrated: From Monday morning until Wednesday night,they had been fiercly fighting over one choice of word: Should it be termed arguments or parameters? Thursday morning they decided not to agree, leave the final decision for later, but use "arguments" for now, as a temporary solution, to get on with the work. But after lunch on Thursday, one guy brought up some arguments for "parameters" being a better temporary solution, and they spent the rest of Thursday and all Friday arguing which is te better temporary solution so they could get on with the work. Those were people who had just as firm thoughts: By defintion, they are arguments! Noooo, the defintion clearly says that they are parameters! As long as there is only one (monotheistic) religion, there is only one god. As long as there is only one definition, there is no argument. Neither assumption holds water.

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                  Nathan Minier
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #22

                  I don't think that comparing synonyms (or synonymous usage in this case) to the nature of definitions really has much meaning.

                  "Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor

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                  • A Amarnath S

                    Ask them how Java and JavaScript are related :-)

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                    Mark_Wallace
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #23

                    The same mother(f---)

                    I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                    • K kalberts

                      Some say this, some say that... When discussing with librarians, I usually argue that metadata is "data about data": The catalog entry tells about a given book, it isn't the book. While the title page is (part of) the book. "Metadata" is a function, the way we use information: When you use the title and author in the catalog to learn something about the existence of a book, you use it as metadata. When you read the same words on the title page, they are plain data. Few librarians have really thought through the exact definition; they haven't had the need for it, as long as metadata in the form of indexes and catalogs is available. When they start thinking, they usually split into two groups (or more!) with different opinions, and I can quietly pull back while they continue the fighting. I am certainly not absolute about what I suggest to the librarians. Anyone is free to scream out to me: "YOU are wrong!" I hear that from people with so strongly differing ideas about the right answer that I remain calm and relaxed.

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                      Mark_Wallace
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #24

                      OK, a quick rule of thumb: If you can assign a value to it (like a book title), it ain't meta-data. Meta-data just tells you what it is -- wild e.g. "The title is the name used to identify the book". You can't assign values to it, because it is what it is*. * I always wanted to use that phrase in a way that made real sense.

                      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                      • L Lost User

                        Mark_Wallace wrote:

                        Well, they say that great minds think alike, so it only follows that daft ones do, too.

                        I think a great mind is very alike a crazy one :)

                        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                        Mark_Wallace
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #25

                        There's a thin line between genius and insanity, and everyone knows which side of the line I'm on.

                        I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                        • L Lost User

                          Heard a professor in IT once claim that you could very easily convert C# to JavaScript, since both were object-languages :)

                          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                          Mark_Wallace
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #26

                          Well, he wasn't far wrong. I mean C# is an object language, and javascript is an objectionable one.

                          I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                          • M Mark_Wallace

                            There's a thin line between genius and insanity, and everyone knows which side of the line I'm on.

                            I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #27

                            The fun side :D

                            Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                            • E Eytukan

                              It's a bit funny to see the managing bosses randomly use terminologies as per their wish. Like Authenticate/Authorize, Data/Meta-Data, and so many of them. Completely mixed up. But still everyone nods their head and keeps going lol :-D

                              Full Reset

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                              Gary Wheeler
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #28

                              Back in the 80's I worked for a defense contractor. My boss was a wonderful woman who handled customers really well, and stayed out of the tech folks' way. It wasn't until after you got to know her that you realized she didn't have the faintest clue what she was talking about if the conversation went the least bit technical.

                              Software Zen: delete this;

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                              • G Gary Wheeler

                                Back in the 80's I worked for a defense contractor. My boss was a wonderful woman who handled customers really well, and stayed out of the tech folks' way. It wasn't until after you got to know her that you realized she didn't have the faintest clue what she was talking about if the conversation went the least bit technical.

                                Software Zen: delete this;

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                                Eytukan
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #29

                                I take extra care to ensure, stakeholders of this type are never left to feel uncomfortable on the conversation. Many times, I had taken a pause to tell them - ("I could explain you how this works, after the call"). Just to free the person and the other parties from an ambiguous situation, during the call.

                                Full Reset

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