http://www.itauthor.com/2009/10/08/the-application-may-experience-a-hard-landing/ Stuff about technical writing and software Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:42:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.itauthor.com/2009/10/08/the-application-may-experience-a-hard-landing/comment-page-1/#comment-7104 Stephen Readman Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:55:07 +0000 http://www.itauthor.com/2009/10/08/the-application-may-experience-a-hard-landing/#comment-7104 Hi Alistair, In software testing land (when writing defect for example) there is a difference. CRASH: When a program crashes you may or may not get an error message, but what you do get is a program no longer running. Like the helicopter! NOT RESPONDING: In this case the program is still running, it be producing errors, but it is not responding to user stimulation. This would be a helicopter going round in circles out of the pilots control - but not splattered on the ground. In performance testing you sometimes find a program that is not responding (to any more request/load) is actually busy processing what it can. Stephen.   PS what's wrong with my .cx email address - you site wont accept it. Hi Alistair,
In software testing land (when writing defect for example) there is a difference.
CRASH: When a program crashes you may or may not get an error message, but what you do get is a program no longer running. Like the helicopter!
NOT RESPONDING: In this case the program is still running, it be producing errors, but it is not responding to user stimulation. This would be a helicopter going round in circles out of the pilots control - but not splattered on the ground.
In performance testing you sometimes find a program that is not responding (to any more request/load) is actually busy processing what it can.
Stephen.
 
PS what's wrong with my .cx email address - you site wont accept it.

]]> http://www.itauthor.com/2009/10/08/the-application-may-experience-a-hard-landing/comment-page-1/#comment-7102 Janet Swisher Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:13:40 +0000 http://www.itauthor.com/2009/10/08/the-application-may-experience-a-hard-landing/#comment-7102 The problem with "crash" is that it is not very specific. If you post on a support forum that "the program crashed", the response is likely to be "What exactly happened? Did you get an error message, and if so what was it?" A program that stops responding has a different type of problem from a program that exits unexpectedly. I suggest describing the behavior that the user is likely to see, rather than a vague term like "crash".   The problem with "crash" is that it is not very specific. If you post on a support forum that "the program crashed", the response is likely to be "What exactly happened? Did you get an error message, and if so what was it?" A program that stops responding has a different type of problem from a program that exits unexpectedly. I suggest describing the behavior that the user is likely to see, rather than a vague term like "crash".
 

]]>