Re:Anakin – Automatically Kill Orphans
by cushpush on Monday April 01, 2024 @07:33AM
(#39893003)
Child, orphan, zombie" computing terminology is goofy at best. A process has a child? Already doesn't make sense, it's replication and mitosis, not reproduction via fertilization. To anthropomorphize (make human, apply human qualities to) computing processes, threads, and conceptual allocations of heap space is an attempt to invite our biological comprehension into a digital domain, but sometimes it is better to invent new words.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
The description for mitosis is usually "a cell splits into two daughter cells" so we're right back to parents and children even with that analogy — which doesn't actually fit, because a process spawning a new process isn't usually duplicating itself.
Doesn't one have to swap pages around in order for split bits to byte? ok, just imagine one doesn't need a dinning philosopher.
Hence, my suggestion to invent new words!)
"Child" and "Parent" are already universally understood and easy to remember. No reason to invent new words to explain this concept, it will only make IT harder to learn, not easier.
Some other terminology is taking this metaphor a bit far, like "Orphan", but it makes sense even if it's not a 100% ideal analogy. What matters is that it's easy to remember and explain.