Bugzilla – Full Text Bug Listing
| Summary: | UI text for Java settings contains 3 instances of "JARs," which is a typo | ||||||
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| Product: | [Eclipse Project] JDT | Reporter: | Laura Willey <willeyl> | ||||
| Component: | UI | Assignee: | JDT-UI-Inbox <jdt-ui-inbox> | ||||
| Status: | RESOLVED WORKSFORME | QA Contact: | |||||
| Severity: | trivial | ||||||
| Priority: | P3 | CC: | daniel_megert, margolis, markus.kell.r, prakash, sebastian.zarnekow | ||||
| Version: | 3.7 | ||||||
| Target Milestone: | --- | ||||||
| Hardware: | PC | ||||||
| OS: | Windows XP | ||||||
| Whiteboard: | |||||||
| Attachments: |
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Description
Laura Willey
Created attachment 195506 [details]
A screen capture of the typos on the Java settings page
"JARs" is not a typo, it's just a plural like JREs, APIs, IDs, CEOs, etc. The word "JARs" is used in many other places in the SDK, and if we start changing it here, we have to change it everywhere (including all the help docs). Furthermore, the shorthand doesn't hurt and is even easier to read, so I don't see us changing this. (In reply to comment #2) > "JARs" is not a typo, it's just a plural like JREs, APIs, IDs, CEOs, etc. > > The word "JARs" is used in many other places in the SDK, and if we start > changing it here, we have to change it everywhere (including all the help > docs). > > Furthermore, the shorthand doesn't hurt and is even easier to read, so I don't > see us changing this. "JARs" is incorrect word usage because "JAR" is an adjective, and adjectives cannot be plural. "JAR" should not used on its own, but must modify a noun. For example, "JAR files." The other abbreviations that you mention are nouns, which can be plural. If this change will require too many updates to the UI and docs, I understand your reasoning for resolving the bug. (In reply to comment #3) > "JARs" is incorrect word usage because "JAR" is an adjective, and adjectives > cannot be plural. "JAR" should not used on its own, but must modify a noun. For > example, "JAR files." > > The other abbreviations that you mention are nouns, which can be plural. Just out of curiosity: JAR is the abbrev for Java Archive. Why do you think it's an adjective? (In reply to comment #4) > (In reply to comment #3) > > > "JARs" is incorrect word usage because "JAR" is an adjective, and adjectives > > cannot be plural. "JAR" should not used on its own, but must modify a noun. For > > example, "JAR files." > > > > The other abbreviations that you mention are nouns, which can be plural. > > Just out of curiosity: JAR is the abbrev for Java Archive. Why do you think > it's an adjective? You are correct that JAR stands for Java archive, which is a noun. However, even that term is commonly used as an adjective. For example, which usage is more common: "Java archive files" or "Java archives"? The reason we use JAR as an adjective is because IBM Terminology forbids the use of JAR as a standalone term. IBM doesn't treat JAR as a noun, and neither does Oracle (see the JAR file spec: http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/guide/jar/jar.html). The whole Eclipse SDK uses "JARs" for years now. This would have to be changed at hundreds of places (not just JDT). (In reply to comment #5) I think IBM Terminology should adapt to reality here. I see your point confirmed in the original JAR file spec, but that document is old, and its main point is really the file format specification. In contrast, our references don't deal with the actual file format -- they just need a name for the thing, and everyone knows it's a file. This is common usage in the field, see e.g. http://www.google.com/search?q=site:oracle.com+"JARs" Also other documents that don't define the file format but describe the usage of JARs don't always use JAR as an adjective: http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/guide/plugin/developer_guide/extensions.html http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/guide/extensions/spec.html |