5 ms·
> Memorisation It is memoization, not memorisation! Although for two weeks in algorithms class I did in fact think our prof was just pronouncing memorize in a
by santaclaus 9y ago
> Memorisation
It is memoization, not memorisation! Although for two weeks in algorithms class I did in fact think our prof was just pronouncing memorize in a cutesy manner.
- throwaway7645 9y agoI came on here to say that.
- chrisbennet 9y agoMe too!
- muthdra 9y agoI didn't.
- foxh0und 9y agoThanks all!
- dep_b 9y agoThat's simply the British English way of writing the word. The author is a Swede and most probably got educated in the official way of writing English.
- ram_rar 9y agoGiven the sad state of programming interviews. People mostly land up memorizing
- quotemstr 9y agoHonestly though, we should just switch to using "memorization". It's a less obscure word that communicates the intended meaning better, IMHO.
- Retra 9y agoObscure words are very well suited to esoteric subject matter where precision is needed. A particular brand of function optimization is exactly that.
- quotemstr 9y agoWhat precise meaning does "memorize" denote that "memorize" wouldn't? Sometimes jargon is just jargon.
- TuringTest 9y ago"Memoization" is only used in the context of caching results of previous function calls. So if you see the word, you instantly know that this is the context. You wouldn't know that if you see "memorization".
- jjaredsimpson 9y agoExactly. Memorization is the process of committing something to memory. Things like spaced repetition, flashcards, using mnemonics, etc. Memoization is the technique of caching expensive function calls and returning those cached values upon subsequent invocations. Seeing the word memorize implies a process that an actor is undergoing and says nothing about the data being memorized. Seeing the word memoize implies the existence of an expensive function and implies a process of repeated calls to the function. It also implies the function is pure, i.e. you can't memoize calls to fread().
- kbenson 9y agoMemoization implies caching specifically, which implies its own things, such as cache size and eviction methodology. Not something that's necessarily thought of when using the term "memory". Memoization is close enough to "memorization" that you pretty much know what it is without having heard of it before and easily rememberable, while being specific enough to the actual concept as to be easily searchable and imply specific concerns of its own. That's a win-win in my book.