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 ]
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