4 ms·
Language and terminology evolve over time. It can be uncomfortable and challenging to adapt. Some new developers might be introduced to the concept initially a
by HumanOstrich 3y ago
Language and terminology evolve over time. It can be uncomfortable and challenging to adapt.
Some new developers might be introduced to the concept initially as "tree-shaking". It's not wrong; it just differs from your preference.
- naasking 3y agoI learned of tree shaking first, and DCE is clearly superior as a term: 1) it's actually descriptive, 2) there's a large literature using this term to look for further information, and 3) as the original poster noted, it's not actually a misnomer. There is literally no advantage to the new term that I can think of.
- Dylan16807 3y agoDCE is too general. Tree-shaking is specifically the form of DCE where you remove unreferenced functions/modules. Especially important is that you can do tree-shaking without analyzing control flow, while by default "DCE" implies you're analyzing control flow. And I don't think tree-shaking is a misnomer. Depending on how you visualize the metaphor, unreferenced functions are either barely attached or not attached. Shaking them off is simple and sufficiently realistic.