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.
>Can anyone offer a logical reason why this atrocity <"architecting">
>has been created?
>Architects have been in business for centuries, and never felt that
>"designing" was insufficient for their needs. Why do non-architects feel
>the need to perpetrate something so hideous?
If the only meaning of the word "architecture" were the art and science
of building structures--as practiced by architects--I would agree that
"architecting" is an unnecessary and ugly coinage. But since it is
common and valid usage to refer to "the architecture" of something
(e.g. a computer system or network), I think the coinage is both
inevitable and useful. If an architect devises a design for a building
and calls that process "designing", why isn't it valid for an engineer
who devises or defines an architecture for a technical system to refer
to that process as "architecting"?
Fred Ridder ridderf -at- dialogic -dot- com
Dialogic Architecture Labs Technical Publications Group
Dialogic Corporation
Parsippany, NJ
**Everybody has an opinion, and this one is mine alone**
TECHWR-L List Information
To send a message about technical communication to 2500+ list readers,
E-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send administrative commands
ALL other questions or problems concerning the list
should go to the listowner, Eric Ray, at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-
