Thread: technical sentence

"First, if you don't declare the function _ virtual then an object of the subclass will have the function chosen depending on the static type of the pointer." will it be identically the follow sentence: "First, if you don't declare the function as virtual then an object of the subclass will have the function chosen depending on the static type of the pointer." ...... or it's just grammatical form that I don't know anything about...?

Originally Posted by Dr.

"First, if you don't declare the function _ virtual then an object of the subclass will have the function chosen depending on the static type of the pointer." will it be identical_ to the following sentence: "First, if you don't declare the function as virtual then an object of the subclass will have the function chosen depending on the static type of the pointer." ...... or is it (its='it is' not 'is it') just a grammatical form that I don't know anything about...?

To the best of my knowledge, they're identical. If there is a difference, it's one of those obscure rules only english teachers know about and everyone else ignores.

I think the second is better. Although both are grammatically correct I think.

Originally Posted by TATY

I think the second is better. Although both are grammatically correct I think.

You know, I was thinking that, but after my tenth or twelfth reading, I changed my mind and decided I liked the first one better. In the end, I decided to just not say anything. I like the first one because it says the same thing with fewer words. In my experience with technical writing, fewer words to express the same idea = good. However, it might be possible a reader would think he was supposed to declare a 'function virtual,' so the second option makes it more clear. The bottom line is that I've seen much worse writing than either of those sentences from native English speakers, so I think either works fine.

In this particular context, I wouldn't omit "as." "Declare" in "declare a function as virtual" (or "declare a variable as an integer" etc) doesn't have the same meaning as "declare" in "declare someone your enemy".

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

In this particular context, I wouldn't omit "as." "Declare" in "declare a function as virtual" (or "declare a variable as an integer" etc) doesn't have the same meaning as "declare" in "declare someone your enemy".

It does have the same meaning. The only difference is one is using an inanimate noun with an adjective, whereas the other uses two animate nouns. The meaning of the verb is still the same.

"Declare war on" is completely different.

Thanks a lot!!!

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

In this particular context, I wouldn't omit "as." "Declare" in "declare a function as virtual" (or "declare a variable as an integer" etc) doesn't have the same meaning as "declare" in "declare someone your enemy".

It does have the same meaning. The only difference is one is using an inanimate noun with an adjective, whereas the other uses two animate nouns. The meaning of the verb is still the same.

"Declare war on" is completely different.

Nope. In programming, "declare" means a different thing than in common language. In programming, by declaring something, you, essentially create it.

"To declare a function virtual" comminicates to me that you say to someone, "Hey, bud whaddya know, this function is virtual".
On the other hand, "to declare a function as virtual" communicates to me that you have added the word "virtual" in its declaration. You see, you can declare a function without this word as well. When you declare it as virtual, you don't just state that it is virtual, you state that a function with such and such a name exists and it is also a virtual one.

I don't know how else to expalin the difference...
Would you say that "We have built this center as a recreation facility" and "We have built this center a recreation facility" are the same?

To be honest, both versions are used in actual programming lingo, but the second one sounds somewhat sloppy to me.

[quote=translations.nm.ru]

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by "translations.nm.ru":2rk1i0vr

In this particular context, I wouldn't omit "as." "Declare" in "declare a function as virtual" (or "declare a variable as an integer" etc) doesn't have the same meaning as "declare" in "declare someone your enemy".

It does have the same meaning. The only difference is one is using an inanimate noun with an adjective, whereas the other uses two animate nouns. The meaning of the verb is still the same.

"Declare war on" is completely different.

Nope. In programming, "declare" means a different thing than in common language. In programming, by declaring something, you, essentially create it.

"To declare a function virtual" comminicates to me that you say to someone, "Hey, bud whaddya know, this function is virtual".
On the other hand, "to declare a function as virtual" communicates to me that you have added the word "virtual" in its declaration. You see, you can declare a function without this word as well. When you declare it as virtual, you don't just state that it is virtual, you state that a function with such and such a name exists and it is also a virtual one.

I don't know how else to expalin the difference...
Would you say that "We have built this center as a recreation facility" and "We have built this center a recreation facility" are the same?

To be honest, both versions are used in actual programming lingo, but the second one sounds somewhat sloppy to me.[/quote:2rk1i0vr]

You analogy doesn't work. 'Recreation facility' is a noun phrase, which is why you had to use an 'a' to make either sentence work. 'Virtual' is an adjective that describes 'function.' In order to make an apples-to-apples comparison, you'd have to use "I built this center as recreation" (which changes the meaning of the sentence) or "I built this center recreation" (which has the noun and adjective reversed.) Neither sentence works.[/u]

What “Adjective reversed” means? That is, an adjective follows after a noun in place before one… ?

Originally Posted by Dr.

What “Adjective reversed” means? That is, an adjective follows after a noun in place before one… ?

Yes. In most situations, the adjective comes before the noun: fast car, blue sky, expensive watch, etc. 'I built the center recreation' just sounds bad to me, but 'I declared a function virtual' doesn't. It may just be because I've read a few programming books in the past.

In general, I think technical people just tend to have their own slightly modified rules for grammar in their particular field. For example, I was working on a paper this morning and I kept writing sentences like 'When a fast neutron induces a fission...' The grammar checker in MS Word kept telling me to change it to 'When a fast neutron induces _ fission...' To me, these two sentences mean different things, so I ignored the suggestions even though my sentence may not be 100% correct.

yes, the linguistic term for that kind of goings-on is "jargon." A good translator needs to know the standard languages, but also needs to know the jargon of any particular field being translated.