42 lines
5.5 KiB
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42 lines
5.5 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>feature</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="../F.html" title="F"/><link rel="previous" href="fear-and-loathing.html" title="fear and loathing"/><link rel="next" href="feature-creature.html" title="feature creature"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">feature</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="fear-and-loathing.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">F</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="feature-creature.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="feature"/><dt xmlns="" id="feature"><b>feature</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. [common] A good property or behavior (as of a program). Whether
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it was intended or not is immaterial.</p></dd><dd><p> 2. [common] An intended property or behavior (as of a program).
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Whether it is good or not is immaterial (but if bad, it is also a
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<a href="../M/misfeature.html"><i class="glossterm">misfeature</i></a>). </p></dd><dd><p> 3. A surprising property or behavior; in particular, one that is
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purposely inconsistent because it works better that way — such an
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inconsistency is therefore a <a href="feature.html"><i class="glossterm">feature</i></a> and not a
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<a href="../B/bug.html"><i class="glossterm">bug</i></a>. This kind of feature is sometimes called a
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<a href="../M/miswart.html"><i class="glossterm">miswart</i></a>; see that entry for a classic example.
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</p></dd><dd><p> 4. A property or behavior that is gratuitous or unnecessary, though
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perhaps also impressive or cute. For example, one feature of Common LISP's
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<b class="command">format</b> function is the ability to print
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numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats (see
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<a href="../B/bells-whistles-and-gongs.html"><i class="glossterm">bells whistles and gongs</i></a>). </p></dd><dd><p> 5. A property or behavior that was put in to help someone else but
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that happens to be in your way. </p></dd><dd><p> 6. [common] A bug that has been documented. To call something a
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feature sometimes means the author of the program did not consider the
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particular case, and that the program responded in a way that was
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unexpected but not strictly incorrect. A standard joke is that a bug can
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be turned into a <a href="feature.html"><i class="glossterm">feature</i></a> simply by documenting it
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(then theoretically no one can complain about it because it's in the
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manual), or even by simply declaring it to be good. “<span class="quote">That's not a
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bug, that's a feature!</span>” is a common catchphrase. See also
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<a href="feetch-feetch.html"><i class="glossterm">feetch feetch</i></a>,
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<a href="../C/creeping-featurism.html"><i class="glossterm">creeping featurism</i></a>, <a href="../W/wart.html"><i class="glossterm">wart</i></a>,
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<a href="../G/green-lightning.html"><i class="glossterm">green lightning</i></a>.</p></dd><dd><p>The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts, and
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miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical exchange between
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two hackers on an airliner:</p><p>A: “<span class="quote">This seat doesn't recline.</span>”</p><p>B: “<span class="quote">That's not a bug, that's a feature. There is an emergency
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exit door built around the window behind you, and the route has to be kept
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clear.</span>”</p><p>A: “<span class="quote">Oh. Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased the
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spacing between rows here.</span>”</p><p>B: “<span class="quote">Yes. But if they'd increased spacing in only one section
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it would have been a wart — they would've had to make
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nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced
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seats.</span>”</p><p>A: “<span class="quote">A miswart, actually. If they increased spacing throughout
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they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin. So unequal
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spacing would actually be the Right Thing.</span>”</p><p>B: “<span class="quote">Indeed.</span>”</p><p><span class="firstterm">Undocumented feature</span> is a
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common, allegedly humorous euphemism for a <a href="../B/bug.html"><i class="glossterm">bug</i></a>.
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There's a related joke that is sometimes referred to as the
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“<span class="quote">one-question geek test</span>”. You say to someone “<span class="quote">I saw a
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Volkswagen Beetle today with a vanity license plate that read
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FEATURE</span>”. If he/she laughs, he/she is a
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<a href="../G/geek.html"><i class="glossterm">geek</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="fear-and-loathing.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../F.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="feature-creature.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">fear and loathing </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> feature creature</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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