English Idiom in Unix: Directory Recursively

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Wed, 25 May 2011 09:26:11 +0200, Thorsten Kampe wrote:

> Naming something in the terms of its implementation details (in this
> case recursion) is a classical WTF.

*If* that's true, it certainly doesn't seem to apply to real-world 
objects. Think about the exceptions:

microwave oven
vacuum cleaner
oven fries
electric car
chain saw
flintlock rifle
air gun
vulcanised rubber
kerosene heater
aluminium foil
diamond saw
gas stove
wood stove
four-wheel drive car
incandescent light bulb
electric razor
unleaded petrol

to mention only a few.

Naming the thing after the implementation would often seem to be *good 
advice*, not bad. We often do care about implementations. You really do 
need to know whether the car you drive uses leaded or unleaded.

Being able to swap implementations without changing the interface is an 
abstraction that doesn't apply all the time, in either code or real life.




-- 
Steven