Re: "test if" vs. "determine whether" - for API function descriptions ?

Subject: Re: "test if" vs. "determine whether" - for API function descriptions ?
From: Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>
To: Monique Semp <monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net>
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2016 11:47:22 -0800

My default phrasing is "returns TRUE if ...."

On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 11:37 AM, Monique Semp
<monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net> wrote:
> Hello, WR-L-ers,
>
> For an API Reference, Iâve got lots (and lots) of descriptions for functions that return TRUE or FALSE depending on whether a given condition/state/whatever is true or false.
>
> And Iâm wondering which (brief, as in the @brief command in Doxygen) descriptionâs start text might be âbetterâ, âmore quickly grokedâ, âeasier for ESL readers to understandâ:
>
> * Test if <condition, such as âthe object is the first in the listâ>.
> * Determine whether <condition, such as âthe object is the first in the listâ>.
>
> Thereâs no consistency in the function names (and I am not about to try to get the code refactored). Names might begin or include âisConditionâ, âConditionâ, âcheckIfConditionâ, and so on; or they might not.
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