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Subject:Re: Can software have human attributes? From:Berk/Devlin <armadill -at- earthlink -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 26 Jul 2001 11:37:40 -0700
Diane Backus <DBackus -at- DocByDesign -dot- com> wrote:
>> A corporate style guide reads:
>> "Avoid attributing human actions to inanimate objects, particularly
>> software. Example: Instead of 'The program sits and waits for the next
>> active result in the queue', write 'The program polls the queue for the next
>> active result.'"
>
>> Several developers have disagreed with this since the style guide was
>> published. What is the general acceptance level for attributing human
>> actions to software? ...
Hey, guys:
Just wanted to point out that very often software developers use commands in their software that correspond to "human" activities.
So, for example, there is a C-language statement, probably also in C++, called: wait();
Which means that the program literally DOES wait. I'm certain there are many other examples of this.
In fact, if you think about it, everything that any piece of software does could be thought of as anthropomorphic -- "read a file", "open a file", "update a record". The software doesn't actually DO anything, right? It's just a string of binary numbers encoded as electrical charges in a pile of metal and plastic.
I think if your developers disagree with the guidelines, you should change the guidelines. Or, maybe it would be better to NOT think too deeply about this; makes your brain hurt and, worse, could lead to permanent writer's block.
Anybody seen AI? (Great, great use of animation technology. Plot does not bear thinking about. But the boundary between software and humanity gets fuzzier every day; maybe it's time we updated our style guides to reflect this.)
--Emily
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~ Emily Berk ~
On the web at www.armadillosoft.com *** Armadillo Associates, Inc. ~
~ Project management, developer relations and ~
extremely-technical technical documentation that developers find useful.~
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