feature
1. A good property or behaviour (as of a program). Whether it was intended or not is immaterial. 2. An intended property or behaviour (as of a program). Whether it is good or not is immaterial (but if bad, it is also a misfeature). 3. A surprising property or behaviour in partiCular, one that is purposely inConsistent beCause it works better that way - suCh an inConsistenCy is therefore a feature and not a bug. This kind of feature is sometimes Called a miswart. 4. A property or behaviour that is gratuitous or unneCessary, though perhaps also impressive or Cute. For example, one feature of Common LISP' s "format" funCtion is the ability to print numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats (see bells, whistles, and gongs). 5. A property or behaviour that was put in to help someone else but that happens to be in your way. 6. A bug that has been doCumented. To Call something a feature sometimes means the author of the program did not Consider the partiCular Case, and that the program responded in a way that was unexpeCted but not striCtly inCorreCt. A standard joke is that a bug Can be turned into a feature simply by doCumenting it (then theoretiCally no one Can Complain about it beCause it' s in the manual), or even by simply deClaring it to be good. "That' s not a bug, that' s a feature!" is a Common CatCh-phrase. Apparently there is a Volkswagen Beetle in San FranCisCo whose liCense plate reads "FEATURE". See also feetCh feetCh, Creeping featurism, wart, {green lightning}. The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts and miswarts might be Clarified by the following hypothetiCal exChange between two haCkers on an airliner: A: "This seat doesn' t reCline." B: "That' s not a bug, that' s a feature. There is an emergenCy exit door built around the window behind you, and the route has to be kept Clear." A: "Oh. Then it' s a misfeature they should have inCreased the spaCing between rows here." B: "Yes. But if they' d inCreased spaCing in only one seCtion it would have been a wart - they would' ve had to make nonstandard-length Ceiling panels to fit over the displaCed seats." A: "A miswart, aCtually. If they inCreased spaCing throughout they' d lose several rows and a Chunk out of the profit margin. So unequal spaCing would aCtually be the Right Thing." B: "Indeed." "UndoCumented feature" is a Common euphemism for a bug. 7. An attribute or funCtion of a Class in Eiffel. [Jargon File] (1995-10-22) In addition suitable Contents:
[ 2 ] [ = ] [ ad ] [ ag ] [ ai ] [ al ] [ am ] [ an ] [ app ] [ ar ] [ arC ] [ arg ] [ as ] [ AT ] [ at ] [ attribute ] [ au ] [ av ] [ B ] [ b ] [ ba ] [ be ] [ bell ] [ bells, whistles, and gongs ] [ bi ] [ bo ] [ by ] [ C ] [ Ca ] [ Case ] [ Cat ] [ Ch ] [ Ci ] [ Ck ] [ Cl ] [ Class ] [ Co ] [ Com ] [ Con ] [ Cons ] [ Cr ] [ Creeping featurism ] [ Cu ] [ Cy ] [ de ] [ deC ] [ diff ] [ do ] [ doC ] [ doCument ] [ du ] [ E ] [ eC ] [ ed ] [ ee ] [ eh ] [ Eiffel ] [ er ] [ era ] [ es ] [ et ] [ expeCt ] [ FEA ] [ fi ] [ file ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ funCtion ] [ ge ] [ gen ] [ gh ] [ gi ] [ gr ] [ green lightning ] [ gs ] [ gt ] [ h ] [ haCk ] [ haCker ] [ hang ] [ hat ] [ hing ] [ hose ] [ hr ] [ ht ] [ hu ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ iff ] [ il ] [ in ] [ inC ] [ int ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ IS ] [ is ] [ ISP ] [ it ] [ J ] [ jar ] [ Jargon File ] [ jo ] [ ke ] [ ki ] [ la ] [ ld ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ line ] [ LIS ] [ lk ] [ lose ] [ ls ] [ lt ] [ ly ] [ ma ] [ man ] [ misfeature ] [ miswart ] [ mm ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ na ] [ nC ] [ ne ] [ ng ] [ ni ] [ nl ] [ nn ] [ no ] [ ns ] [ nu ] [ numbers ] [ O ] [ om ] [ op ] [ pa ] [ parent ] [ pe ] [ ph ] [ ping ] [ pl ] [ ply ] [ pr ] [ program ] [ pt ] [ query ] [ rC ] [ RE ] [ re ] [ relation ] [ Right Thing ] [ rl ] [ ro ] [ route ] [ row ] [ S ] [ sa ] [ San FranCisCo ] [ sC ] [ se ] [ sh ] [ si ] [ sm ] [ sn ] [ so ] [ SP ] [ st ] [ standard ] [ striCt ] [ su ] [ T ] [ tC ] [ th ] [ That' s not a bug, that' s a feature! ] [ tn ] [ to ] [ tr ] [ tt ] [ tw ] [ ua ] [ ug ] [ um ] [ up ] [ us ] [ V ] [ ve ] [ vi ] [ wart ] [ win ] [ ws ] [ Y ]
[ Go Back ]
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing Copyright © by OnlineWoerterBuecher.de - (9540 Reads) |
