8 KiB
8 KiB
Often Confused Terms
There are many terms that are very similar and can many times be used interchangeably. This isn't wrong per se, a slight difference may be insignificant in certain contexts. However it's good to know the differences for the sake of those cases where they matter. The following list tries to document some of the often confused/similar terms.
- AI vs machine learning vs neural networks
- algebra vs arithmetic
- algorithm vs program vs process vs heuristic
- analog vs mechanical
- anarchy vs chaos
- argument vs parameter
- array vs list vs tuple vs set vs multiset
- ASCII vs plain text vs Unicode
- ASCII art vs ANSI art vs Unicode art
- assembler vs assembly vs machine code
- binary vs executable
- binary vs boolean
- black race vs nigger vs negro
- brute force vs heuristic search
- bug vs error vs exception vs fault vs failure vs defect
- causation vs correlation
- cepstrum vs spectrum
- chaos vs randomness vs pseudorandomness vs entropy
- class vs set
- closed source vs proprietary
- CLI vs TUI vs terminal vs console
- color model vs color space
- communism vs Marxism vs socialism
- complex vs complicated
- complex number vs imaginary number
- computer language vs programming language
- computer science vs information technology vs informatics vs cybernetics vs computer engineering vs software engineering
- concurrency vs parallelism vs quasiparallelism vs distribution
- constant vs literal
- coding vs programming
- codec vs container format
- coherence vs consistency
- computational model vs model of computation
- convolution vs correlation
- copyright vs patent vs trademark vs intellectual property etc.
- crossplatform/multiplatform vs portable
- cryptography vs security
- data vs information vs entropy vs signal
- data structure vs data type
- decentralized vs distributed
- declaration vs definition
- demo vs intro
- democracy vs voting
- desktop environment vs window manager
- duck typing vs weak typing vs dynamic typing
- digit vs number vs value
- digital vs electronic
- directed acyclic graph vs tree
- directory vs folder
- discrete Fourier transform vs discrete time Fourier transform
- emoticon vs emoji vs smiley
- emulation vs simulation
- entity vs object
- equation vs expression vs inequality
- equivalence vs implication
- ethics vs morality
- Euler's number vs Euler number
- evolutionary programming vs evolutionary algorithm vs genetic programming vs genetic algorithm
- equality vs identity (in programming languages)
- floating point number vs real number
- font vs typeface
- framework vs library
- free software vs open source vs public domain vs source available vs freeware
- geek vs nerd
- GNU/Linux vs Linux
- gradient noise vs value noise
- hypothesis vs theory vs conjecture
- ID vs token vs hash vs handle vs identifier
- infinite vs arbitrarily large/unbounded
- Internet vs web
- Java vs JavaScript
- kB/mB/gB/tB vs KiB/MiB/GiB/TiB
- latency/ping/lag vs throughput/bandwidth
- leftism vs pseudoleftism
- liberalism vs libertarianism
- license vs waiver
- mass vs weight
- method vs methodology
- modem vs router vs switch
- nationalism vs patriotism
- NP vs NP-hard vs NP-complete
- paging vs virtual memory
- path tracing vs ray tracing vs ray casting
- pointer vs reference
- principal square root vs square root (especially when defining i)
- probability vs probability density
- pseudo vs quasi
- pseudoleft vs left
- pseudoskeptic vs skeptic
- shading vs shadows
- science vs soyence
- Unicode vs UTF
- URI vs URL
- webpage vs website
- wrap around vs overflow