Bob Lee sends a new one on me:<\/p>\n
Because my employment as a computer programmer requires that I read books and articles written about the so-called “object-oriented” programming, I am often assaulted by the following non-words: “instantiation,”<\/strong> which means simply an instance of something; “instatiate<\/strong>,” a verb which means to create an instance; and the various forms of the verb, including “instatiated<\/strong>” and “instatiating<\/strong>.”For those software engineers who report to me, I can insist that “instance<\/strong>” always be used in place of “instantiation.<\/strong>” However, I cannot police the entire software industry. I’m told the misuse of these terms originated with military programmers who wanted to sound educated through the use of big words. Have you been exposed to “instatiation<\/strong>?” Can you recommend a way to discourage its use?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Editor’s note: To bastardize an old joke — “How do you keep
\na programmer from charging? Take away his stock options.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bob Lee sends a new one on me: Because my employment as a computer programmer requires that I read books and articles written about the so-called “object-oriented” programming, I am often assaulted by the following non-words: “instantiation,” which means simply … Continue reading