Re: Task vs Function ??

["Jeanne A. E. DeVoto" <jaed -at- BEST -dot- COM>]

At 8:49 AM -0700 7/31/98, Anthony Markatos wrote:
>need to understand the relationship between a task and a function.  I
>know that ANY noun/verb combination can be called a function.  Examples
>are: "Walk the Dog", "Calculate Taxes", "Drive the Car", "Select a
>Vendor", and "Visit Grandma".  Each of these is a function (if within
>the scope of the system under consideration).
>
>Can not each of the above examples also be called a task?  Using a
>noun/verb combination, can you think of any task which is not also a
>function?

The way I make the distinction is this:

  A task is something you do for its own sake.
  A function is a means to an end.

For example, walking the dog is a task; putting on the leash is a function.
Selecting a vendor would be a function, because you don't do that for its
own sake; it might be part of a task like "buy a new computer". "Print a
document" is a task; "select the printer driver" is a function.

Put another way, if someone came to you and said "show me how to select a
printer driver on the Mac", it would be reasonable for you to ask "What do
you really want to do?", and the answer would be "I want to print this
document."

This can be tricky in some cases, because tasks can seen as means to other
ends; you might say that walking the dog is only important as part of the
task of keeping the dog healthy, for example, or you want to print the
document because you need to copy it and pass it out. But usually it is
straightforward, given a little context.

--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com
http://www.jaedworks.com
What does not kill us makes us stranger.

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