TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Richard de Vecchis wonders: <<Programmers often use the word "inherit" as
in: Programmers can create relationships between one object and another.
For example, objects can inherit characteristics from other objects. Is
there a more suitable term to use in end user documentation when describing
software applications?>>
Whether the word's appropriate depends entirely on the end-users you're
writing for. If they're programmers too, then "inherit" is the technically
correct term, and you shouldn't change it without a really good reason. If
you're writing for a general audience, the concept of "inheritance" is
probably irrelevant in most cases, and you shouldn't mention the term at
all. Instead, focus on what inheritance means to the user. For example: If
you change certain features [name them!] of PapaObject, then these features
will also change for ChildObject."
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
"When ideas fail, words come in very handy."--Goethe
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.