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by kowlo 2039 days ago
Strange... "Nbdev is a system for something that we call exploratory programming." but no citation... the phrasing suggests this is something they believe they've come up with a name for?
1 comments

I'm aware, what I'm confused about is why they've phrased it as if it's something they call exploratory programming, as if they've coined the term.
I coined the term - and it turns out someone else did too, for something else. So be it. If someone else can think of a better term that's never been used before, then I'll happily use that instead.

The earlier usage mentioned in Wikipedia is entirely uncited there however, and seems to have only been used in one academic project AFAICT.

How are you sure you didn't just read it somewhere and then forgot? It has been mentioned many times in related literature (even in publication titles) https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22exploratory+programm...

Here's one from 1988 https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/51607.51614

Are these unrelated? Is Nbdev not only a "new programming environment", but also a new concept that needs a new name?

"In some cases the estimates may be obvious. Perhaps the story is similar to others that have already been completed. In other cases the story may be very difficult to estimate and may require exploratory programming."

Kent Beck and Martin Fowler

http://index-of.es/Java/Planning%20Extreme%20Programming.pdf

Its a commonly understood term AFAIK

> Its a commonly understood term AFAIK

I agree - it's what made me raise an eyebrow... However, based on their comment above, the lead author of Nbdev believes to have coined the term.

My opinion is that due diligence and attribution are important. If I believed I'd coined a new term, I'd check first. Mistakes are easy to make, but when highlighted, perhaps corrections are more appropriate than negotiating with the person highlighting them:

From the lead author (jph00): ... If someone else can think of a better term that's never been used before, then I'll happily use that instead.

It's certainly possible. Smalltalk is absolutely an important inspiration for nbdev, and that's a really great reference that you pointed out.
I'd probably call that analytics or analysis.
In electronics, we call it Breadboarding, and the results are expected to be temporary by all involved. Breadboarded circuits generally are not stable over time or movement.