Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Te n s e
In science writing, most text is in past or present tense. Present tense is used for
eternal truths. Thus we write “the algorithm has asymptotic cost
O
(
n
)
”, not “the
algorithm had asymptotic cost
O
”. Present tense is also used for statements about
the text itself. It is better to write “related issues are discussed below” than to write
“related issues will be discussed below”.
Past tense is used for describing work and outcomes. Thus we write “the ideas
were tested by experiment”, not “the ideas are tested by experiment”. It follows that
it is occasionally correct to use past and present tense together.
(
n
)
Although theory suggests that the Klein algorithm has asymptotic asymptotic
cost
O
n
2
(
)
, in our experiments the trend observed was
O
(
n
)
.
Either past or present tense can be used for discussion of references. Present tense is
preferable but past tense can be forced by context.
Willert (1999) shows that the space is open.
Haast (1986) postulated that the space is bounded, but Willert (1999) has since
shown that it is open.
Other than in conclusions, future tense is rarely used in science writing.
Repetition and Parallelism
Text that consists of the same form of sentence used again and again is monotonous.
Watch out for sequences of sentences beginningwith “however”, “moreover”, “there-
fore”, “hence”, “thus”, “and”, “but”, “then”, “so”, “nevertheless”, or “nonetheless”.
Likewise, don't overuse the pattern “First, … Second, … Last, …”.
Complementary concepts should be explained as parallels, or the reader will have
difficulty seeing how the concepts relate to each other.
In SIMD, the same instructions are applied simultaneously to multiple data
sets, whereas inMIMDdifferent data sets are processedwith different instruc-
tions.
In SIMD, multiple data sets are processed simultaneously by the same instruc-
tions, whereas in MIMD multiple data sets are processed simultaneously by
different instructions.
Parallels can be based on antonyms.
Access is fast, but at the expense of slow update.
Access is fast, but update is slow.
Lack of parallel structure can result in ambiguity.
