# Often Confused Terms

There are many terms that are very similar and can many times be used interchangeably. This isn't wrong per se, a slight difference may be insignificant in certain contexts and the list here may also serve as a list of synonyms to those who already know the differences. However it's important to stress it's important to know at least some of the differences for the sake of the cases where they matter. The following list tries to document some of the often confused/similar terms.

- **[1D](1d.md)** vs **[2D](2d.md)** vs **[2.5D](pseudo3d.md)** vs **[3D](3d.md)** (e.g. 2D function vs 3D function, 1D raycasting vs 2D raycasting, ...)
- **[address](address.md)** vs **[pointer](pointer.md)** vs **[reference](reference.md)** vs **[index](index.md)**
- **[AI](ai.md)** vs **[machine learning](machine_learning.md)** vs **[neural networks](neural_net.md)**
- **[algebra](algebra.md)** vs **[arithmetic](arithmetic.md)** vs **[math](math.md)**
- **[algorithm](algorithm.md)** vs **[program](program.md)** vs **[process](process.md)** vs **[heuristic](heuristic.md)** vs **[source code](source_code.md)**
- **America** vs **[USA](usa.md)**
- **[analog](analog.md)** vs **[mechanical](mechanical.md)** vs **non-electronic**
- **[anarchy](anarchism.md)** vs **[chaos](chaos.md)**
- **[argument](argument.md)** vs **[parameter](parameter.md)** vs **formal parameter**
- **[array](array.md)** vs **[list](list.md)** vs **[vector](vector.md)** vs **[tuple](tuple.md)** vs **[string](string.md)** vs **[set](set.md)** vs **[class](class.md)** vs **[multiset](multiset.md)**
- **[ASCII](ascii.md)** vs **[plain text](plain_text.md)** vs **[Unicode](unicode.md)** vs **[UTF](utf.md)** vs **[ANSI](ansi.md)**
- **[ASCII art](ascii_art.md)** vs **[ANSI art](ansi_art.md)** vs **[Unicode](unicode.md) art**
- **[assembler](assembler.md)** vs **[assembly](assembly.md)** vs **[machine code](machine_code.md)**
- **[astrology](astrology.md)** vs **[astronomy](astronomy.md)**
- **[attribution](attribution.md)** vs **[credit](credit.md)**
- **binary** vs **[executable](executable.md)**
- **[binary](binary.md)** vs **[boolean](boolean.md)**
- **[black](black.md) [race](race.md)** vs **[nigger](nigger.md)** vs **[negro](negro.md)**
- **[branchless](branchless.md) programming** vs **ifless programming**
- **[brute force](brute_force.md)** vs **[heuristic search](heuristic_search.md)**
- **[buffer](buffer.md)** vs **[cache](cache.md)** vs **[cash](money.md)**
- **[bug](bug.md)** vs **[glitch](glitch.md)** vs **[error](error.md)** vs **[exception](exception.md)** vs **[fault](fault.md)** vs **[failure](fail.md)** vs **[defect](defect.md)**
- **[causation](causation.md)** vs **[correlation](correlation.md)** (le [reddit](reddit.md) scientist rule)
- **[cepstrum](cepstrum.md)** vs **[spectrum](spectrum.md)**
- **[chaos](chaos.md)** vs **[randomness](random.md)** vs **[pseudorandomness](pseudorandom.md)** vs **[quasirandomness](quasirandomness.md)** vs **[entropy](entropy.md)** vs **[statistics](statistics.md)** vs **[probability](probability.md)** vs **[stochasticity](stochastic.md)**
- **[CLI](cli.md)** vs **[TUI](tui.md)** vs **[terminal](terminal_emulator.md)** vs **[console](console.md)** vs **[shell](shell.md)** vs **[TTY](tty.md)**
- **[clipping](clipping.md)** vs **[culling](culling.md)** vs **[pruning](pruning.md)**
- **[closed source](closed_source.md)** vs **[proprietary](proprietary.md)**
- **[college](college.md)** vs **[university](university.md)**
- **[color model](color_model.md)** vs **[color space](color_space.md)**
- **[communism](communism.md)** vs **[Marxism](marxism.md)** vs **[socialism](socialism.md)**
- **[complex](complexity.md)** vs **[complicated](complicated.md)**
- **[complex number](complex_number.md)** vs **[imaginary number](imaginary_number.md)**
- **[computer language](computer_language.md)** vs **[programming language](programming_language.md)**
- **[computer science](compsci.md)** vs **[information technology](it.md)** vs **[informatics](informatics.md)** vs **[cybernetics](cybernetics.md)** vs **[computer engineering](computer_engineering.md)** vs **[software engineering](software_engineering.md)**
- **[compatibility layer](compatibility_layer.md)** vs **[emulator](emulator.md)** vs **[virtual machine](vm.md)**
- **[concurrency](concurrency.md)** vs **[parallelism](parallelism.md)** vs **[quasiparallelism](quasiparallelism.md)** vs **[distribution](distributed.md)**
- **[conjecture](conjecture.md)** vs **[hypothesis](hypothesis.md)** vs **[theory](theory.md)** vs **[theorem](theorem.md)** vs **[lemma](lemma.md)**
- **[constant](constant.md)** vs **[literal](literal.md)**
- **[coding](coding.md)** vs **[programming](programming.md)** vs **[software engineering](software_engineering.md)**
- **[codec](codec.md)** vs **[container format](container_format.md)**
- **[coherence](coherence.md)** vs **[consistency](consistency.md)**
- **[computational model](computational_model.md)** vs **[model of computation](model_of_computation.md)**
- **[convolution](convolution.md)** vs **[correlation](correlation.md)**
- **[copyright](copyright.md)** vs **[patent](patent.md)** vs **[trademark](trademark.md)** vs **[intellectual property](intellectual_property.md)** vs **[moral right](moral_rights.md)** etc.
- **[currency](currency.md)** vs **[money](money.md)**
- **[crossplatform/multiplatform](multiplatform.md)** vs **[portable](portability.md)**
- **[cryptocurrency](crypto.md)** vs **digital currency**
- **[cryptography](cryptography.md)** vs **[security](security.md)** vs **[privacy](privacy.md)** vs **[encryption](encryption.md)**
- **[data](data.md)** vs **[information](information.md)** vs **[entropy](entropy.md)** vs **[signal](signal.md)**
- **[data structure](data_structure.md)** vs **[data type](data_type.md)**
- **[decentralized](decentralization.md)** vs **[distributed](distributed.md)**
- **[declaration](declaration.md)** vs **[definition](definition.md)**
- **[demo](demo.md)** vs **[intro](intro.md)**
- **[democracy](democracy.md)** vs **[voting](voting.md)**
- **demonstration** vs **[proof](proof.md)**
- **[desktop environment](de.md)** vs **[window manager](wm.md)** vs **[windowing system](windowing_system.md)**
- **[duck typing](duck_typing.md)** vs **[weak typing](weak_typing.md)** vs **[dynamic typing](dynamic_typing.md)** vs **[no typing](untyped.md)**
- **[digit](digit.md)** vs **[number](number.md)** vs **[value](value.md)** vs **figure** vs **numeral**
- **[digital](digital.md)** vs **[electronic](electronics.md)**
- **[directed acyclic graph](dag.md)** vs **[tree](tree.md)**
- **[directory](directory.md)** vs **[folder](folder.md)**
- **[discrete Fourier transform](dft.md)** vs **[discrete time Fourier transform](dtft.md)**
- **[distro](distro.md)** vs **[GNU](gnu.md)/Linux** vs **[Linux](linux.md)** vs **[Unix](unix.md)** vs **Unix-like**
- **[education](education.md)** vs **[indoctrination](indoctrination.md)**
- **[electric](electricity.md)** vs **[electronic](electronics.md)**
- **electronic game** vs **[video game](video_game.md)**
- **[emoticon](emoticon.md)** vs **[emoji](emoji.md)** vs **[smiley](smiley.md)**
- **[emulation](emulation.md)** vs **[simulation](simulation.md)**
- **[entity](entity.md)** vs **[object](object.md)**
- **[equation](equation.md)** vs **[expression](expression.md)** vs **[inequality](inequality.md)**
- **[equivalence](equivalence.md)** vs **[implication](implication.md)**
- **[ethics](ethics.md)** vs **[morality](morality.md)**
- **[Euler's number](e.md)** vs **[Euler number](euler_number.md)**
- **[evolutionary programming](evolutionary.md)** vs **[evolutionary algorithm](evolutionary.md)** vs **[genetic programming](genetic_programming.md)** vs **[genetic algorithm](genetic_algorithm.md)**
- **[equality](equality.md)** vs **[identity](identity.md)** (in programming languages)
- **[floating point number](float.md)** vs **[real number](real_number.md)**
- **[font](font.md)** vs **[typeface](typeface.md)**
- **[forwarding](forwarding.md)** vs **[routing](routing.md)** vs **[switching](switching.md)**
- **[framework](framework.md)** vs **[library](library.md)**
- **[free software](free_software.md) (libre)** vs **[open source](open_source.md)** vs **[FOSS](foss.md)** vs **[public domain](public_domain.md)** vs **[source available](source_available.md)** vs **[freeware](freeware.md) (gratis)**
- **[gay](gay.md)** vs **[LGBT](lgbt.md)**
- **[geek](geek.md)** vs **[nerd](nerd.md)**
- **[globalism](globalism.md)** vs **[globalization](globalization.md)**
- **[goniometry](goniometry.md)** vs **[trigonometry](trigonometry.md)**
- **[gradient noise](gradient_noise.md)** vs **[value noise](value_noise.md)**
- **heading** vs **header**
- **[hyperlink](hyperlink.md)** vs **[link](link.md)** vs **[URI](uri.md)** vs **[URL](url.md)**
- **[ID](id.md)** vs **[index](index.md)** vs **[token](token.md)** vs **[hash](hash.md)** vs **[handle](handle.md)** vs **[identifier](identifier.md)**
- **[ideology](ideology.md)** vs **[philosophy](philosophy.md)** vs **[religion](religion.md)** vs **[paradigm](paradigm.md)**
- **[imperative](imperative.md) paradigm** vs **procedural paradigm** vs **[procedural generation](procgen.md)**
- **[infinite](infinity.md)** vs **[arbitrarily large/unbounded](unbounded.md)**
- **[Internet](internet.md)** vs **[web](web.md)**
- **[Java](java.md)** vs **[JavaScript](js.md)**
- **[kB/mB/gB/tB](memory_units.md)** vs **[KiB/MiB/GiB/TiB](memory_units.md)**
- **[latency/ping/lag](latency.md)** vs **[throughput/bandwidth](throughput.md)**
- **[leftism](left_right.md)** vs **[pseudoleftism](pseudoleft.md)**
- **[liberalism](liberalism.md)** vs **[libertarianism](libertarianism.md)**
- **[license](license.md)** vs **[waiver](waiver.md)**
- **main [memory](memory.md)** vs **working memory** vs **[RAM](ram.md)**
- **[logic](logic.md)** vs **[math](math.md)**
- **[mass](mass.md)** vs **[weight](weight.md)**
- **[method](method.md)** vs **[methodology](methodology.md)**
- **[mod](mod.md)** vs **[mode](mode.md)**
- **[modem](modem.md)** vs **[router](router.md)** vs **[switch](switch.md)**
- **[multisampling](multisampling.md)** vs **[supersampling](supersampling.md)**
- **[nationalism](nationalism.md)** vs **[patriotism](patriotism.md)**
- **[NP](p_vs_np.md)** vs **[NP-hard](np_hard.md)** vs **[NP-complete](np_complete.md)**
- **[overflow](overflow.md)** vs **[wrap around](wrap.md)**
- **[paging](paging.md)** vs **[virtual memory](virtual_memory.md)**
- **[path tracing](path_tracing.md)** vs **[ray tracing](ray_tracing.md)** vs **[ray casting](raycasting.md)**
- **[principal square root](principal_sqrt.md)** vs **[square root](sqrt.md)** (especially when defining [i](i.md))
- **[probability](probability.md)** vs **[probability density](probability_density.md)**
- **[pseudo](pseudo.md)** vs **[quasi](quasi.md)**
- **[pseudoleft](pseudoleft.md)** vs **[left](left.md)**
- **[pseudoskeptic](pseudosceptic.md)** vs **[skeptic](skeptic.md)**
- **[shading](shading.md)** vs **[shadows](shadow.md)**
- **[science](science.md)** vs **[soyence](soyence.md)**
- **[static typing](static_typing.md)** vs **[strong typing](strong_typing.md)** 
- **[strategy](strategy.md)** vs **[tactics](tactics.md)**
- **[Unicode](unicode.md)** vs **[UTF](utf.md)**
- **[webpage](webpage.md)** vs **[website](website.md)**
- ...

## See Also

- [often misunderstood](often_misunderstood.md)