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You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Using precisely defined mathematical words in contexts where they only make sense va

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Using precisely defined mathematical words in contexts where they only make sense vaguely to a layperson ruins their original usage. Make up a new word. Repurpose a shitty English word. But leave our damn maths words alone. Old man quarterto shakes his fist at you! Get off my smooth, compact lawn!

siegecraft 13y ago
I just assumed it meant the opposite of polymorphic, but no it's not even related to that..
- mkehrt 13y ago
  That's "monomorphic". Really!
- gsg 13y ago
  It is related, really. Polymorphic: many shaped. Monomorphic: single shaped. Isomorphic: same shaped.
guerrilla 13y ago
Amen! I'm glad someone said something. That really bothered me. It's actually the only reason I clicked on the link. In my head, they'd somehow mapped Javascript onto another language and were able to convert interchangeably between the two or something like that. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
acjohnson55 13y ago
Agreed. I like "Nomadic JavaScript" better! Or "Unbound JavaScript". Or "Bicoastal JavaScript". Or maybe "Freebased JavaScript". Anything else.
- danabramov 13y ago
  Freewheelin' JavaScript
pak 13y ago
Whoa old man quarterto, who said the word ever belonged to math people in the first place? I could argue that math people have a bad habit of squeezing English words into strange contexts that corrupt the original meaning. Take "manifold" for instance, or "curl", or even something as harmless as "mode". They all meant perfectly fine things until the math people claimed them as their own. According to M-W "isomorphic" has pre-existing definitions from medicine and chemistry that could align better with what OP is trying to say. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isomorphic http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isomorphic Good day quarterto! I shall now leave to take a smooth ride in my compact car.
- williamcotton 13y ago
  He has a point. The system they are describing in the article isn't even isomorphic. If it WAS, it wouldn't depend on node. To clarify, if it was a true example of isomorphism it wouldn't be contingent on a single runtime environment or language. A better example of isomorphism in computing would be two modules of code that perform the same function and have the same abstract interface but that are written in DIFFERENT languages.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - wrongc0ntinent 13y ago
    I don't see why different languages would matter. It's a matter of abstracting things from one system and having that abstracted set function in a different one. edit: To clarify, yes, the set would remain intact and functional in both systems.
    - williamcotton 13y ago
      I've been thinking about this for the last few hours... and regardless of the language used, I think I'm finding the point of confusion! isomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality but that are written in different languages and executed in different runtimes monomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality and that are written in the same language and have the same runtime heteromorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality and that are written in the same language but run in different runtimes homomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality but that are written in different langauges that run on the same runtime See, the thing is... languages are compiled to runtimes, right? But they are transpiled to other languages... There surface area of this discussion is very interesting and seems to have some interesting properties, and if you don't mind the math pun, it is truly a complex issue! As for how to actually name these different things, I don't think I really mind... maybe isomorphic and monomorphic swap in the above definition... I've been reading some latin and greek roots to try and give them good names, but I'd love some suggestions! For example, a function written in Scala that functions the same as a function written in JRuby and compiled to the JVM would be an example of a "homomorphism". And a function written in JavaScript that is compiled to run in both node and the web browser is an example of "heteromorphism". A function written in JavaScript that is compiled to run in the Ruby runtime is an example of "isomorphism". Monomorphic would just be sort of like an identity property. Also, I have no idea what I'm going on about, so please help me fix the language! Maybe isomorphic IS the correct term for what is going on in the article, who knows? :)
frontendbeauty 13y ago
(author here) Good point. TBH, I have no idea what "isomorphic" means in the mathematical sense. I was inspired to use "isomorphic" from a 2011 article by Nodejitsu [1]. It seemed like a fine way to describe this approach. I would gladly use a better would if I were to find one. [1] http://blog.nodejitsu.com/scaling-isomorphic-javascript-code http://blog.nodejitsu.com/scaling-isomorphic-javascript-code
- williamcotton 13y ago
  How about "monomorphic", having or existing in only one form?
- wrongc0ntinent 13y ago
  Technically, you're correct, see the biology and chemistry use of the word. But seeing how you're dealing with a mathematically inclined audience, there will be disapproval. I think it's a very useful concept in general, the more it gets out into the world, the better.
- btilly 13y ago
  I like relocatable JavaScript.
  - yuchi 13y ago
    It's the first time that I hear about it, and I do not dislike relocatable at all
- poissonpie 13y ago
  What about simply DRY? isn't that what you're aiming for - having code sharable between client and server such that you don't have two pieces of code that do the same thing in two different places?
- bpizzi 13y ago
  Shall "multiplateform javascript [code]" be suitable here? Looks like this is all it's about: having a single js code generating the same results, with no dependance on the plateform.
the1 13y ago
isomorph(ism) is actually from chemistry, not mathematics.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- enraged_camel 13y ago
  But in the end, isn't everything math? longingly gazes into the distance
  - Ygg2 13y ago
    No. longingly gazes into the dead stars
- dllthomas 13y ago
  It's from Greek, really. It's used in both chemistry and mathematics. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Isomorphism.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Isomorphism.html
wrongc0ntinent 13y ago
Actually mathematics got it from chemistry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilhard_Mitscherlich http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilhard_Mitscherlich Before maths, it was probably mostly geologists that used it. It's also used plenty in evolutionary biology, but this was probably after maths (not sure though).
natural219 13y ago
I can't disagree more. From thefreedictionary.com: (Mathematics) A one-to-one correspondence between the elements of two sets such that the result of an operation on elements of one set corresponds to the result of the analogous operation on their images in the other set. This seems exactly like what the author is describing. Colloquial English does not have an objective standard -- it is a constantly evolving language. I certainly agree with this term's usage unless a better one is suggested.
- millstone 13y ago
  But notice that the isomorphism is the correspondence itself. When you read "isomorphic JavaScript," you would be right to ask "isomorphic to what?" What is JavaScript in correspondence to? If there is an isomorphism here, it is between the separate runtimes (client and server), and not the language.
ot 13y ago
I agree. Even if not precisely defined, isomorphic usually refers to things that are (possibly) different, but "look the same" under a particular lens (for example, a set of operations). OTOH, this is talking about the same thing running in two different contexts. More appropriate terms might be uniform, homogeneous, ...
Ygg2 13y ago
Actually isomorphism only means, similar form. And it makes sense in the context - as in server and client code have similar form. The fact that it's used in math is incidental. It's used in biology and chemistry as well. It does leave space for ambiguity because of closeness of math and computer science, but overall it's correct usage.
BUGHUNTER 13y ago
I wish I could filter out totally uninteresting threads in HN website that are disturbing my reading experience - is there any CSS hack / tool that adds a "don´t show this thread" button to HN discussion threads?
vbuterin 13y ago
I think it might be some kind of parody on "angular".

siegecraft 13y ago

I just assumed it meant the opposite of polymorphic, but no it's not even related to that..

mkehrt 13y ago
That's "monomorphic". Really!
gsg 13y ago
It is related, really. Polymorphic: many shaped. Monomorphic: single shaped. Isomorphic: same shaped.

guerrilla 13y ago

Amen! I'm glad someone said something. That really bothered me. It's actually the only reason I clicked on the link. In my head, they'd somehow mapped Javascript onto another language and were able to convert interchangeably between the two or something like that. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

acjohnson55 13y ago

Agreed. I like "Nomadic JavaScript" better! Or "Unbound JavaScript". Or "Bicoastal JavaScript". Or maybe "Freebased JavaScript". Anything else.

danabramov 13y ago
Freewheelin' JavaScript

pak 13y ago

Whoa old man quarterto, who said the word ever belonged to math people in the first place? I could argue that math people have a bad habit of squeezing English words into strange contexts that corrupt the original meaning. Take "manifold" for instance, or "curl", or even something as harmless as "mode". They all meant perfectly fine things until the math people claimed them as their own. According to M-W "isomorphic" has pre-existing definitions from medicine and chemistry that could align better with what OP is trying to say. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isomorphic http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isomorphic Good day quarterto! I shall now leave to take a smooth ride in my compact car.

williamcotton 13y ago
He has a point. The system they are describing in the article isn't even isomorphic. If it WAS, it wouldn't depend on node. To clarify, if it was a true example of isomorphism it wouldn't be contingent on a single runtime environment or language. A better example of isomorphism in computing would be two modules of code that perform the same function and have the same abstract interface but that are written in DIFFERENT languages.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- wrongc0ntinent 13y ago
  I don't see why different languages would matter. It's a matter of abstracting things from one system and having that abstracted set function in a different one. edit: To clarify, yes, the set would remain intact and functional in both systems.
  - williamcotton 13y ago
    I've been thinking about this for the last few hours... and regardless of the language used, I think I'm finding the point of confusion! isomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality but that are written in different languages and executed in different runtimes monomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality and that are written in the same language and have the same runtime heteromorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality and that are written in the same language but run in different runtimes homomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality but that are written in different langauges that run on the same runtime See, the thing is... languages are compiled to runtimes, right? But they are transpiled to other languages... There surface area of this discussion is very interesting and seems to have some interesting properties, and if you don't mind the math pun, it is truly a complex issue! As for how to actually name these different things, I don't think I really mind... maybe isomorphic and monomorphic swap in the above definition... I've been reading some latin and greek roots to try and give them good names, but I'd love some suggestions! For example, a function written in Scala that functions the same as a function written in JRuby and compiled to the JVM would be an example of a "homomorphism". And a function written in JavaScript that is compiled to run in both node and the web browser is an example of "heteromorphism". A function written in JavaScript that is compiled to run in the Ruby runtime is an example of "isomorphism". Monomorphic would just be sort of like an identity property. Also, I have no idea what I'm going on about, so please help me fix the language! Maybe isomorphic IS the correct term for what is going on in the article, who knows? :)

frontendbeauty 13y ago

(author here) Good point. TBH, I have no idea what "isomorphic" means in the mathematical sense. I was inspired to use "isomorphic" from a 2011 article by Nodejitsu [1]. It seemed like a fine way to describe this approach. I would gladly use a better would if I were to find one. [1] http://blog.nodejitsu.com/scaling-isomorphic-javascript-code http://blog.nodejitsu.com/scaling-isomorphic-javascript-code

williamcotton 13y ago
How about "monomorphic", having or existing in only one form?
wrongc0ntinent 13y ago
Technically, you're correct, see the biology and chemistry use of the word. But seeing how you're dealing with a mathematically inclined audience, there will be disapproval. I think it's a very useful concept in general, the more it gets out into the world, the better.
btilly 13y ago
I like relocatable JavaScript.
- yuchi 13y ago
  It's the first time that I hear about it, and I do not dislike relocatable at all
poissonpie 13y ago
What about simply DRY? isn't that what you're aiming for - having code sharable between client and server such that you don't have two pieces of code that do the same thing in two different places?
bpizzi 13y ago
Shall "multiplateform javascript [code]" be suitable here? Looks like this is all it's about: having a single js code generating the same results, with no dependance on the plateform.

the1 13y ago

isomorph(ism) is actually from chemistry, not mathematics.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
enraged_camel 13y ago
But in the end, isn't everything math? longingly gazes into the distance
- Ygg2 13y ago
  No. longingly gazes into the dead stars
dllthomas 13y ago
It's from Greek, really. It's used in both chemistry and mathematics. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Isomorphism.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Isomorphism.html

wrongc0ntinent 13y ago

Actually mathematics got it from chemistry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilhard_Mitscherlich http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilhard_Mitscherlich Before maths, it was probably mostly geologists that used it. It's also used plenty in evolutionary biology, but this was probably after maths (not sure though).

natural219 13y ago

I can't disagree more. From thefreedictionary.com: (Mathematics) A one-to-one correspondence between the elements of two sets such that the result of an operation on elements of one set corresponds to the result of the analogous operation on their images in the other set. This seems exactly like what the author is describing. Colloquial English does not have an objective standard -- it is a constantly evolving language. I certainly agree with this term's usage unless a better one is suggested.

millstone 13y ago
But notice that the isomorphism is the correspondence itself. When you read "isomorphic JavaScript," you would be right to ask "isomorphic to what?" What is JavaScript in correspondence to? If there is an isomorphism here, it is between the separate runtimes (client and server), and not the language.

ot 13y ago

I agree. Even if not precisely defined, isomorphic usually refers to things that are (possibly) different, but "look the same" under a particular lens (for example, a set of operations). OTOH, this is talking about the same thing running in two different contexts. More appropriate terms might be uniform, homogeneous, ...

Ygg2 13y ago

Actually isomorphism only means, similar form. And it makes sense in the context - as in server and client code have similar form. The fact that it's used in math is incidental. It's used in biology and chemistry as well. It does leave space for ambiguity because of closeness of math and computer science, but overall it's correct usage.

BUGHUNTER 13y ago

I wish I could filter out totally uninteresting threads in HN website that are disturbing my reading experience - is there any CSS hack / tool that adds a "don´t show this thread" button to HN discussion threads?

vbuterin 13y ago

I think it might be some kind of parody on "angular".