Abnormality vs error

James Zhang

Senior Member
China/Chinese
In the world of IT industry and alike, what is the word for the situation where wrong things happen if wrong settings are made, wrong operations are done, etc?
Abnormality, exception, error?
Thanks.
 
  • I don't understand the question?
    In any context, wrong things happen if wrong settings are made, wrong operations ...
    That wouldn't be an abnormality.
    It's a mistake :)
    Can you give an example?
     
    Actually, exception is mostly used to indicate errors that happen in a software, it system, etc.
    Seemingly, exception and abnormality share the same chinese translation -- probably that's why i raised this question.
     
    If something goes wrong with the computer we usually get an error message on the screen. It's possible that specific types of errors relate to abnormalities or exceptions but I'm afraid too much of a technophobe to answer the question fully. Where are the technical whizz-kids?
     
    An exception condition is not the same as an error.
    For example, my printer will report an exception condition if it runs out of paper. That is not an error. It is the system performing properly. I wouldn't call it an abnormality either. It is entirely normal for my printer to run out of paper :)

    But of course here I am applying real-world meaning in an unreal-world context.

    The link you gave lists all kinds of exception conditions, and I wouldn't want to call them anything else.

    panj
    (quondam whizz-kid)
     
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