[Attummm]

Although how and what are connected, they are not the same. For example, 'I would like to become fit and healthy.' 'What' is getting fit and healthy, but 'how' has almost endless possibilities, each with their own success level and compatibility with you and your lifestyle. Just like nouns and verbs are connected, they are not the same.

[osigurdson]

Getting fit and healthy is an objective, you now choose concrete sub objectives (such as running), more concrete objectives included buying a pair of running shoes. Like many things, inflection points along the way make all the difference. Details matter, just not all details.

Similarly, a higher level objective to "getting fit and healthy" might be "achieve long life" which in itself may have a range of sub objectives and varying levels of abstraction. So yeah, all just objectives, no "the what", no "the how".

[Attummm]

The "what/how" distinction is fundamental. If the "what" is getting healthy and fit, that is a very high-level goal. Within your example, you choose the "how" through running It could've been walking in nature, going to the gym, or doing calisthenics. all of them different "hows".

But since your example made a choice, we are now one level deeper and more concrete than before. The what/goal has in this level become to run a 5K, and the how/method is how you will train to achieve that goal.

"How" and "what" can be very conceptual, especially at a high level, and just like the 5 Whys technique, it could take a few levels to become concrete. Top-down programming is often taught by separating the "how" and the "what." For example:

customer = get_customer(id=id)

The "what" is getting the customer.

The "how" is not revealed, yet its intent is clear. Within the function get_customer we could have another 'what' for example run_query Top-down programming will often first skip the "how" and focus only on the "what" by writing the functions, methods, and classes later on.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom%E2%80%93up_and_top%E2...

[osigurdson]

>> very high-level goal

I think objective is a better term. These range from high level (increase happiness) to very concrete such as physical movement. Basically we are solving optimization problems.