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For anyone like me who wonders what ARC is (my first thought was "pg's Lisp dialect?") it sounds like they are talking about Objective-C Automatic Reference Cou

For anyone like me who wonders what ARC is (my first thought was "pg's Lisp dialect?") it sounds like they are talking about Objective-C Automatic Reference Counting: http://clang.llvm.org/docs/AutomaticReferenceCounting.html http://clang.llvm.org/docs/AutomaticReferenceCounting.html Tip to writers: Even if you think your audience knows what an acronym stands for, spell it out or provide a link the first time you use it. You never know when other people will see your article who are interested in the general area but unfamiliar with your specific topic.

mikeash 12y ago
It's kind of ironic that you use "pg" just a few words after the acronym you're complaining about, although I understand that a blog post and a comment aren't quite the same. Still, is it really necessary to define acronyms when they're easy to find and pretty fundamental to the language? A Google search for "objective-c arc" turns up nothing but hits that discuss Automatic Reference Counting. Should he also expand shorthand like "x86" or "WWDC"?
- Stratoscope 12y ago
  Ah, but how would I know that I need to search for "objective-c arc"? There's no mention of Objective-C until well past the midway point of the article. And of course a search for "ARC" turns up all kinds of unrelated topics. In fact, the only software-related reference on the first page of a Google search is Paul Graham's Arc. It would have been fine if the first mention of ARC in the article was more specific: "Objective-C ARC". This is different from x86 or WWDC, where the very first match on a Google search is exactly what you'd be looking for. (FWIW, I upvoted your comment because I always appreciate interesting feedback.)
  - mikeash 12y ago
    Fair point. But on the other hand, Objective-C is pretty much all he writes about. Is it really necessary to mention it every time? I understand that it makes life harder if you come in for the first time, but you did figure it out, and I imagine he writes for his usual audience. Personally, I would say that this is a good case for making the HN title different from (more explicit than) the page title, although I know that that way often lies madness. Really, I think this is just another example of how we should name everything using UUIDs rather than pronounceable chains of letters.

mikeash 12y ago

It's kind of ironic that you use "pg" just a few words after the acronym you're complaining about, although I understand that a blog post and a comment aren't quite the same. Still, is it really necessary to define acronyms when they're easy to find and pretty fundamental to the language? A Google search for "objective-c arc" turns up nothing but hits that discuss Automatic Reference Counting. Should he also expand shorthand like "x86" or "WWDC"?

Stratoscope 12y ago
Ah, but how would I know that I need to search for "objective-c arc"? There's no mention of Objective-C until well past the midway point of the article. And of course a search for "ARC" turns up all kinds of unrelated topics. In fact, the only software-related reference on the first page of a Google search is Paul Graham's Arc. It would have been fine if the first mention of ARC in the article was more specific: "Objective-C ARC". This is different from x86 or WWDC, where the very first match on a Google search is exactly what you'd be looking for. (FWIW, I upvoted your comment because I always appreciate interesting feedback.)
- mikeash 12y ago
  Fair point. But on the other hand, Objective-C is pretty much all he writes about. Is it really necessary to mention it every time? I understand that it makes life harder if you come in for the first time, but you did figure it out, and I imagine he writes for his usual audience. Personally, I would say that this is a good case for making the HN title different from (more explicit than) the page title, although I know that that way often lies madness. Really, I think this is just another example of how we should name everything using UUIDs rather than pronounceable chains of letters.