Definition is a statement of the meaning or significance of a word, phrase, idiom, etc.
Definition is a statement of the meaning or significance of a word, phrase, idiom, etc.
Questions tagged [definition]
68 questions
222
votes
10 answers
What is MVC, really?
As a serious programmer, how do you answer the question What is MVC?
In my mind, MVC is sort of a nebulous topic — and because of that, if your audience is a learner, then you're free to describe it in general terms that are unlikely to be…
Nicole
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117
votes
7 answers
Why is Inversion of Control named that way?
The words invert or control are not used at all to define Inversion of Control in the definitions that I've seen.
Definitions
Wikipedia
inversion of control (IoC) is a programming technique, expressed here
in terms of object-oriented programming,…
Korey Hinton
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85
votes
3 answers
What is REST (in simple English)
Lately I have become interested in familiarizing myself with REST. I tried reading wiki entry on REST, but it was of no help. I would really appreciate it if someone can explain in simple English (that is without unnecessary tech jargon)
What is…
Gaurav
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62
votes
4 answers
Trying to understand P vs NP vs NP Complete vs NP Hard
I am trying to understand these classifications and why they exist. Is my understanding right? If not, what?
P is polynomial complexity, or O(nk) for some non-negative real number k, such as O(1), O(n1/2), O(n2), O(n3), etc. If a problem belongs to…
Nakano
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34
votes
3 answers
If I implement an Interface, is it called an Inheritance?
If my class implements an interface then can I say that I'm following inheritance? I know that when a class extends another class then it's inheritance.
Rajeev
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30
votes
2 answers
What are the different meanings of 'fixture'?
I have some difficulty understanding the concept of "fixture". I know what a test suite is, a test case, a test run,
but what exactly is a "fixture"? A parameterized test case?
It seems to me that the meaning or semantics of the term "fixture" can…
knb
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27
votes
5 answers
Is the term 'Front-End' synonymous with 'Client-Side'? If so, is this always the case?
As a relatively new (self-taught) web developer, I've heard the terms front-end, client-side, back-end, and server-side quite often. To me, front-end and back-end were always synonymous with client-side and server-side, respectively.
However, as…
HellaMad
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25
votes
8 answers
PBI vs User Story
Recently an item has been added to the Product Backlog by product owner which says "When I go to login page from x page, I see an error. I want that error to be removed".
It seems to me that this is not a use case, and shouldn't be a PBI (Product…
Saeed Neamati
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24
votes
4 answers
What is the definition of "Big Data"?
Is there one?
All the definitions I can find describe the size, complexity / variety or velocity of the data.
Wikipedia's definition is the only one I've found with an actual number
Big data sizes are a constantly moving target, as of 2012…
Ben
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23
votes
2 answers
AOP concepts explained for the dummy
Can someone explain AOP concepts for dummies: join point, point cut, weaving etc.
For example: Aspect: a modularization of a concern that cuts across multiple classes. What does that mean?
dumbJoe
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22
votes
7 answers
Does software rot refer primarily to performance, or to messy code?
Wikipedia's definition of software rot focuses on the performance of the software. This is a different usage than I am used to; I had thought of it much more in terms of the cleanliness and design of the code—in terms of the code's having all the…
Kazark
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20
votes
1 answer
What does it mean to "triage an issue" in programming?
Sometimes when submitting bug reports for computer programs, I'll see developers say they need to "triage" an issue.
I'm triaging this issue now. It started appearing sometime after version 3.4
Searching triage shows that it is used in the medical…
Stevoisiak
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20
votes
3 answers
When programmers talk about "data structures", what are they referring to?
When programmers talk about "data structures", are they only talking about abstract data types like lists, trees, hashes, graphs, etc.?
Or does that term include any structure that holds data, such as composite types (class objects, structs, enums,…
Rachel
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17
votes
4 answers
Definition of "state"
What is a good way to define "state", as in state variable or state machine, to a new (previously non) programmer? What are some good ways to explain why this concept is useful for writing software? Is the concept of state explicitly taught in…
hotpaw2
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15
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2 answers
What's the difference between robustness and fault-tolerance?
Systems / programs / distributed algorithms / ... are often described with the predicate robust or fault-tolerant.
What is the difference?
Details:
When I google for +robust +"fault-tolerant", I only get two hits, both unhelpful.
When I…
DaveFar
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