On Mon, September 15, 2014 18:54, Paul Heinlein wrote:> On Mon, 15 Sep 2014, Valeri Galtsev wrote:
>
>> Am I the only one who is tempted to say: people, could you kindly
>> start deciphering your abbreviations. I know, I know, computed
>> science uses _that_ abbreviation for years. But we definitely have
>> people without computer science degree (not me, I do have one ;-) on
>> the list who will be happier to learn terms and abbreviations if it
>> is mentioned what stands for what.
>
The general rule in English is that the first time any abbreviation, including
a Three Letter Acronym (TLA), is introduced into a written document then the
full term is used and the replacement shown in parentheses immediately
thereafter. With all respect to those with Computer Science (CS) degrees, or
Software engineering (SE) certifications, many of us are involved in
multi-disciplinary professional activities and, as there are a limited number
of letters, it is not uncommon for a single TLA to be heavily overloaded.
As with programming, overloading is a practice fraught with possibilities for
error. I would appreciate it very much if those who wish to use TLAs freely
consider that what is the obvious meaning to them may not be so obvious to
another whose fields of expertise are somewhat different.
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