"Documentation by paper"

[Robert Dewar]

law@redhat.com wrote:

> But again, why bother when there are already things like wikipedia and
> numerous texts which already define these basic terms.  Other folks have
> already defined these basic terms, probably in better verbage than we'd come
> up with.  Why recreate the wheel?

Because precise definitions can vary. When people write mathematical or
scientific papers, they always precisely define terms, and the reason
for this is that there can be subtle (or sometimes not so subtle)
variations in exact definitions. These kind of variations are exactly
what can cause difficulties in programs.

Furthermore, the general definitions are likely to be a notch too 
abstract. Often in the context of a given program, you can provide
definitions which are slightly more concrete and understandable in
the context of an implementation.