Files
JargonFile/original/html/N/naive.html
2014-03-27 18:54:56 +00:00

18 lines
2.8 KiB
HTML
Raw Permalink Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters
This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>naive</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../N.html" title="N"/><link rel="previous" href="nailing-jelly.html" title="nailing jelly"/><link rel="next" href="naive-user.html" title="naive user"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">naive</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="nailing-jelly.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">N</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="naive-user.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="naive"/><dt xmlns="" id="naive"><b>naive</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">adj.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. Untutored in the perversities of some particular program or
system; one who still tries to do things in an intuitive way, rather than
the right way (in really good designs these coincide, but most designs
aren't &#8216;really good&#8217; in the appropriate sense). This trait is
completely unrelated to general maturity or competence, or even competence
at any other specific program. It is a sad commentary on the primitive
state of computing that the natural opposite of this term is often claimed
to be <span class="firstterm">experienced user</span> but is really
more like <span class="firstterm">cynical user</span>. </p></dd><dd><p> 2. Said of an algorithm that doesn't take advantage of some superior
but advanced technique, e.g., the <a href="../B/bubble-sort.html"><i class="glossterm">bubble sort</i></a>. It
may imply naivete on the part of the programmer, although there are
situations where a naive algorithm is preferred, because it is more
important to keep the code comprehensible than to go for maximum
performance. &#8220;<span class="quote">I know the linear search is naive, but in this case the
list typically only has half a dozen items.</span>&#8221; Compare
<a href="../B/brute-force.html"><i class="glossterm">brute force</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="nailing-jelly.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../N.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="naive-user.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">nailing jelly </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> naive user</td></tr></table></div></body></html>