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[on:]

I am new to Arduino but have about 43 years of HW, SW and embedded design experience.  I am just a bit bewildered by some of the terminology that I see in the press.  I don't mean to seem rude or judgmental but I do not understand why some of these terms are used as they are.  Was this thing completely designed in a vacuum?

the two that come to mind immediately are:

#1 Why do you call what everyone else since recorded time has called "source code" or "program" a script?  Why change this?

#2 Why do you use a term "shield", which already had a definition known to all as a device for the protection of circuitry from stray electrostatic or electromagnetic energy, and not use the already existent term "daughter" or "piggyback" card

Tom

[Reply #1 on:]

Great questions, but did you mean "sketch" instead of "script"? I think that may derive from the artsy nature of Wiring, from which Arduino is descended. There's another one. "Wiring" is probably the last name I would have chosen, unless it was Processing. But it is what it is. I really try not to think about these things, don't get me started

Please feel free to use terms like "source code" and "program" etc. etc.

[Reply #2 on:]

I am all for "new", I have been reinventing myself for years (I started with tubes) but "different" just for the sake of begin "different" or "cute" is kinda dumb. 

It just makes it harder to understand what someone else is doing because he/she is speaking a strange dialect of a what should be a common language and serves only to divide "pholks".  We should all be building on what everyone else is doing not making things more confusing.

Now, where the heck did this soapbox come from??  I fella could get hurt climbin' up on that thing and shootin' off his mouth:-)

[Reply #3 on:]

Ha, yeah well I can't disagree. Maybe it was a conscious effort so as not to put people off with too much "computerese". This forum seems to have plenty of computer-literate types, I've never seen an issue when the more common or generic terms are used. I for one, much prefer it.

[Reply #4 on:]

sketch is inhereted from processing, if you look arduino and processing share the same "ide" cause arduino used processings "ide". processing likes to share itself as not really a programming language (java is the language) but rather a interactive visualization authoring system so sketches kind of make since ... why the arduino team never changed it is beyond comprehension but they also have a notion of the arduino being for artsy folks.

cant be too critical, after years they finally changed the file extention from pde (Processing Development Environment) to something different so maybe in version 5 or something it will be called project or script or unicorns I dunno.

Theres this whole thing around some people involved that scary things such as code, or daughterboard (or folding code with freakin line numbers) is scary for people specifically coming to arduino to learn code and or electronics, my advice is to ignore it, learn the two or three cute words for when people mention them (I swear one more person says the ping ...) and enjoy all the finer things about the system and community

[Reply #5 on:]

The real question is why does it bother people? Who really cares what it's called as long as you can pronounce it (I'm looking at you Duemalinove!)?

[Reply #6 on:]

The real question is why does it bother people? Who really cares what it's called as long as you can pronounce it (I'm looking at you Duemalinove!)?

I agree, it almost smacks of misguided elitism in my opinion, when people make such complaints. The popularity and success of the Arduino platform speaks for itself, it doesn't need approval from the high priests of the C/C++ world.

Lefty

[Reply #7 on:]

Shakespeare answered this question already a long time ago

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

My vision

Was this thing completely designed in a vacuum?

It is a very commonly made mistake to think that the rest of the world sees the world our way. Only when you start traveling or go to places you have never been before you'll find out things are named/done differently elsewhere. Don't feel offended even NASA makes these mistakes http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html

"As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it."

#1 Why do you call what everyone else since recorded time has called "source code" or "program" a script?  Why change this?

In my world "source code" refers to a snippet of texts that (given a context) can be used to modify/create a program.
A program is the executable outcome of a interpreted or compiled bunch of source code.
A script is interpreted "source code"
As a self declared C/C++ priest I have to say none of these really match 100% what is meant with a sketch.

Note that in the arty world a script refers to text that is used to make a play (this is probably a very bad definition)
In the business world  program is something to cause directed change

Given a context it is mostly clear what we are talking about. This is why humans are so error resistant. In other words it does not have to be correct to be well understood. Computers on the other hand do not have this trait.

Best regards
Jantje

PS I know I lectured again

[Reply #8 on:]

This is why humans are so error resistant.

That's funny, in my life experiences I've found most humans to be very non-error resistant. Errors errors seem to  spring from them (and me) and are forced onto them at suprizing frequency.  

Lefty