IT for dummies

[FSM with Cheddar]

An interface is a contract stating what information systems may communicate with each other.

[Gonzo]

An interface is a structure that lets information from one thing to be transferred to another.

[gingerjedi]

The late great Richard Feynman once wrote that if something can't be explained in simple terms, it isn't understood. Well that's not quite what he said it, but that's the gist of it.

I've got a few of his books: 'Six Easy Pieces', 'Six Not-So-Easy Pieces' & 'Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!'

Nobel Prize-winning physicist, prankster, juggler, painter, bongo player, safecracker, solver of the Challenger disaster... what a guy.

[Mich the Tester]

It's a thingummyjig that contract testers love because everytime one of the apps using an interface is modified you can charge the client a tulipload of money for regression testing it.

[suityou01]

An interface is a contract stating what information systems may communicate with each other.

This is the closest anyone got, so surely this one is the winner.

[Platypus]

An interface is like a rosetta stone.

Lost me already

Next.

[TimberWolf]

This is the closest anyone got, so surely this one is the winner.

Most of those written here are better than what I blubbered out at the time, which involved abstract classes and unimplemented methods

[Mich the Tester]

Most of those written here are better than what I blubbered out at the time, which involved abstract classes and unimplemented methods

I bet it sounded really clever though, in an OO kind of way.

[cojak]

An interface is a contract stating what information systems may communicate with each other.

Isn't that definition closer to a protocol?

Just a thought....

[realityhack]

Generally, an interface is the overlap where two or more systems affect each other or have links with each other.

In computing this is usually understood as either linkages between computers and other devices, or between computers and people.

More specifically, 'user interface' is commonly understood to be a program that provides a graphical display for the user, that allows the user to interact with the system, indirectly using other types of (mechanical) interfaces such as a 'mouse', or 'keyboard'.


It's so tempting to go into more detail, as I love human-computer-interaction theory and history. Carving through some good books on the topic now.