If, as an employee you're so engrossed in technical jargon that you can't explain it at an understandable and reasonable level to a competent adult, there's a problem.
Likewise, as a manager, you memorized some flashcards and now "understand" enough to throw around some buzzwords and jargon, that's going to have it's own set of problems.
Talk like a human, ask questions, and don't be an idiot.
2. Here are exactly two things that you need to memorize in order to make this sort of talk productive:
a) I don't know what X is, sorry. Can you tell me what that is/Can you explain to me what it does?
b) I'm not sure I follow. I thought X is [...]/does [...], what am I missing?
3. Did anyone who actually knows what these things mean review these definitions? E.g:
Vanilla:
"Plain or basic, often used in reference to coding languages or other computing-related systems that remain unmodified from their original form."
There's nothing plain or basic about the vanilla Linux kernel. What makes it vanilla is the absence of distribution- and/or vendor-specific patches that are not in mainline.
API:
"A set of rules that developers follow to create software that can interact with an external system or application."
This sort of matches what an API is in web land, if you squint a little. If someone were to ask me what that definition describes, "API" is about the last thing I'd say.
Django:
"A style sheet language that extends from CSS."
Last time I wrote web-related code, my girlfriend dragged me to see The Aviator twice because it was all the rage, and I haven't really kept up, but I could swear Django is not a language and that it doesn't extend from CSS, whatever that means.
Yeah, I'd say an API is the interface that you expose so that other developers or systems can interact with your project. That can be over HTTP if it's a web service, but it can also be the interface that you expose from a library that's intended to be used by other developers. Python's Requests is based around the idea of exposing a better API than the stdlib's to manage HTTP requests. Win32 is an API, and so is Cocoa.
> Django
Uh... generally speaking, Django is a Python web framework. It has its own templating language, but I don't recall any facility specific to CSS. That one is just weird.
>This sort of matches what an API is in web land, if you squint a little. If someone were to ask me what that definition describes, "API" is about the last thing I'd say.
I struggle with defining simple things like this, and I think what author offers is a good generic way to define API. This definition includes any actual way I can imagine one can get (programmatic) access to generic service that does not belong to them. I would really like to know how you would define it though.
Rather than memorize a bunch of flash cards it seems much easier to just talk to them like humans and if they say something you don't understand don't be embarrassed to ask them what it means.
I know non-technical people who, when they think they are hearing anything remotely technical, seem to shut down and go into "I don't know technical stuff!" mode...
And an API is not quite "A set of rules that developers follow to create software that can interact with an external system or application" [emphasis added]... (Gives the impression of a design pattern or something, IMO)
How about you just talk to a developer like a regular person? Don't understand what an API is? Just ask them. Great folks love explaining things to others, and if you're not a developer yourself, it's not too stupid of a question to ask (or simply Google it).
The "computer science" terms are funny. That's not computer science, that's web project development.
"Agile - A adapted method of project management in which tasks are divided into short phases, and plans are regularly revisited and modified in response to new information."
If you’re a manager of developers and you need these cards to tell you what some of these things are (database, stack...) you probably shouldn’t be managing developers.
Surely as developers we should be able to reduce or explain our use of jargon for the person we're speaking to, rather than the rest of the world having to learn our industry-specific language?
I try not to use any jargon at all when communicating to non-dev stakeholders, and they still complain about jargon.
Words like "server" or "database" are not jargon. There are literally no other words to use for those things. And if you don't want to hear any technical-sounding words at all, then don't ask technical questions. Or better yet, don't work at a tech company.
Shoot, well if this is the way the world works, I better get some flash cards to talk as a doctor/mechanic/craftsmen/anything-else before I even think of talking to them. The horror of asking what something means is too much!
"Django is a free and open-source web framework, written in Python, which follows the model-view-template architectural pattern. It is maintained by the Django Software Foundation, an independent organization established as a 501 non-profit. Django's primary goal is to ease the creation of complex, database-driven websites."
Just No. It doesnt't even feel human. It's like throwing bunch of things at the developers and will give out output.
It's upper management version of random button smashing.
This is quite funny. Not the website itself, but the comments on here. And it proves the point so well! The website in question is a seemingly obviously quick project that someone whipped up quickly on the hatchapps website. But almost all of the responses here seem to think it's a serious project, taking it at face value.
And therein lies (one of) the problem(s) in talking with developers. We (developers) assume what you (the customer) said is what you meant, but it rarely is.
If it was cleaned up a bit sure. The title totally ruins it... how elitist can tech people get? Go study this glossary of terms THEN you can talk to me.
[+] [-] Hasz|7 years ago|reply
If, as an employee you're so engrossed in technical jargon that you can't explain it at an understandable and reasonable level to a competent adult, there's a problem.
Likewise, as a manager, you memorized some flashcards and now "understand" enough to throw around some buzzwords and jargon, that's going to have it's own set of problems.
Talk like a human, ask questions, and don't be an idiot.
[+] [-] Rapzid|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gaius|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alxlaz|7 years ago|reply
2. Here are exactly two things that you need to memorize in order to make this sort of talk productive:
a) I don't know what X is, sorry. Can you tell me what that is/Can you explain to me what it does?
b) I'm not sure I follow. I thought X is [...]/does [...], what am I missing?
3. Did anyone who actually knows what these things mean review these definitions? E.g:
Vanilla:
"Plain or basic, often used in reference to coding languages or other computing-related systems that remain unmodified from their original form."
There's nothing plain or basic about the vanilla Linux kernel. What makes it vanilla is the absence of distribution- and/or vendor-specific patches that are not in mainline.
API:
"A set of rules that developers follow to create software that can interact with an external system or application."
This sort of matches what an API is in web land, if you squint a little. If someone were to ask me what that definition describes, "API" is about the last thing I'd say.
Django:
"A style sheet language that extends from CSS."
Last time I wrote web-related code, my girlfriend dragged me to see The Aviator twice because it was all the rage, and I haven't really kept up, but I could swear Django is not a language and that it doesn't extend from CSS, whatever that means.
[+] [-] LyndsySimon|7 years ago|reply
Yeah, I'd say an API is the interface that you expose so that other developers or systems can interact with your project. That can be over HTTP if it's a web service, but it can also be the interface that you expose from a library that's intended to be used by other developers. Python's Requests is based around the idea of exposing a better API than the stdlib's to manage HTTP requests. Win32 is an API, and so is Cocoa.
> Django
Uh... generally speaking, Django is a Python web framework. It has its own templating language, but I don't recall any facility specific to CSS. That one is just weird.
[+] [-] iaml|7 years ago|reply
I struggle with defining simple things like this, and I think what author offers is a good generic way to define API. This definition includes any actual way I can imagine one can get (programmatic) access to generic service that does not belong to them. I would really like to know how you would define it though.
[+] [-] throwaway2016a|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mfoy_|7 years ago|reply
Not that flashcards are going to cure _that_.
[+] [-] yetihehe|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] piefayth|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] positr0n|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gone35|7 years ago|reply
This is awful.
[+] [-] some_account|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] acconrad|7 years ago|reply
How about you just talk to a developer like a regular person? Don't understand what an API is? Just ask them. Great folks love explaining things to others, and if you're not a developer yourself, it's not too stupid of a question to ask (or simply Google it).
[+] [-] Animats|7 years ago|reply
"Agile - A adapted method of project management in which tasks are divided into short phases, and plans are regularly revisited and modified in response to new information."
What does "adapted" mean in this context, anyway?
[+] [-] ben509|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] booleandilemma|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ElliotH|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zaccus|7 years ago|reply
Words like "server" or "database" are not jargon. There are literally no other words to use for those things. And if you don't want to hear any technical-sounding words at all, then don't ask technical questions. Or better yet, don't work at a tech company.
[+] [-] tbirrell|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] psetq|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joslin01|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] holografix|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Jeremy1026|7 years ago|reply
The flashcard is uhh, close?
[+] [-] glax|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LyndsySimon|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jspash|7 years ago|reply
And therein lies (one of) the problem(s) in talking with developers. We (developers) assume what you (the customer) said is what you meant, but it rarely is.
[+] [-] kyberias|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mosselman|7 years ago|reply
More clearly. I don’t think you know what mansplaining means.
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] rhapsodic|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deft|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sulam|7 years ago|reply