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John Posada wondered about <<The processes described in the
FRS* must be decomposed into software products, which run on
the target hardware.>>
The word "decomposed" usually means "to break something into
its basic component parts". It's a bit of a rare usage outside
mathematics, but for that reason, it's probably familiar to some
programmers. As an editor, I'm not convinced that decomposed is
being used correctly here, since breaking up a process doesn't
create software (unless the process is something very "high level",
like "banking", in which case it might break up into "deposit" and
"withdrawl" software); in fact, the opposite is more likely true (if you
decompose software, you end up with a series of processes).
Without having seen the FRS, I'd speculate that the author is trying
to say that the processes (which are only ideas) must be
translated (converted, built, etc.) into more tangible form (i.e.,
software). But I'm not up on the latest in programming jargon, so it
may be that the programmers have appropriated this word for their
own purposes.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca (Pointe-Claire, Quebec)
"If you can't explain it to an 8-year-old, you don't understand it"--Albert Einstein
