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Subject:Re: FIFO From:Anatole Wilson <aw3a+ -at- ANDREW -dot- CMU -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 4 May 1993 09:00:31 -0400
>If you are writing a technical document, you may want to use the term
>First In/First Out (FIFO). The term is oriented to describing arrays
>in programming. It may be of use in what you are writing.
>Chris Loris
>harris -dot- cloris -at- ic1d -dot- harris -dot- com
>Technical Writer
>Air Traffic Control Systems Division
>Harris Corporation-Electronic Systems Sector
I don't know...
Isn't this introducing yet another acronym/jargon term into your documents?
From the few posts about this on the net, I gather that this term has a
long history and several different usages in different industries. It
seems to me that when you "borrow" a term from another industry and give
it a new meaning, you risk confusing any part of your audience that is
familiar with the old meaning.
So what purpose will FIFO serve? How will it enhance a reader's
understanding of arrays? And how can we use it in the least confusing
way possible?
Anatole Wilson
Masters in Professional Writing program, Carnegie Mellon University
