Re: Very old Esoteric terminological query -- APIs
... This is also the problem with single-sourcing. You lose nuance which in
documents like this is absolutely critical. In the API and tech docs I've
written, I purposedly rejected any attempts to single-source because it reduces my ability as a writer to handle unique and complex concepts.
This is the perfect opportunity to use FrameMaker's conditional text. In this case, I'd have three "conditions": Java, COM and C++. All the text that is identical in all three cases would be conditionalized to "normal". However, if I wanted to use the word "interface" in COM docs but "language" in Java and C++ docs, I would put both those words in as conditional text.
Just be careful about "a" and "an": "an interface" and "a language": remember to conditionalize the article as well as the noun.
--Emily
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