Wikidata

Wikidata:Requests for comment/make "developer" and "programmer" properties clearer

< Wikidata:Requests for comment


THIS RFC IS CLOSED. Please do NOT vote nor add comments.

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.
stale --Pasleim (talk) 19:59, 3 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Request for comment

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developer (P178) has two issues:

  • is it limited to software?
If so, what's the purpose of programmer (P943)?
Otherwise, why his subject items are "software developer" and "software house" and why it's an instance of Wikidata property related to software (Q21126229);
  • is it limited to creators?
If so, why not renaming it to something like "software creator", given that a developer can be also the current maintainer of a software?
Otherwise, why is it a subproperty of creator (P170)?--Malore (talk) 15:12, 6 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

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  • You should probably ping the people of the most relevant project:

WikiProject Informatics has more than 50 participants and couldn't be pinged. Please post on the WikiProject's talk page instead. -- MichaelSchoenitzer (talk) 13:44, 12 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

  • programmer (P943) is a subproperty of developer (P178) and should be used when we know the name of the programmer who wrote the software. developer (P178) is more general and can be used when we know only the name of the organization and not the individual contributors (despite considering its current usage). Personally, I would distinguish between programmers and maintainers. However, distinguishing developers and programmers is difficult. John Samuel 14:54, 12 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  • Programming is just one part of the software development process. A software developer (person) is not necessarily a programmer, or vice versa. In the same way a property developer is not always a hands-on builder. Danrok (talk) 17:03, 12 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  • Then these are two separate concepts that just happen to use the same term in English, I think developer in terms of building should be a separate property (which I believe doesn't currently exist). --Cdo256 (talk) 06:24, 8 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • A software developer is a person who is involved in the design, construction of a model/prototype, pseudocode, then actual computer code. A programmer is a person who writes computer programs. Also called a coder, he/she is already given the design of the software he/she is building, to begin with. The coder needs to be only aware of the actual machine/platform that will run the code. I'mfeistyincognito (talk) 20:54, 17 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • I agree. My thoughts are developer (P178) should only refer to software and be the person/group that oversaw entire creation of the software and structural engineer (P631) should be the person/group that wrote/edited the code specifically. Generally I'd prefer to have just developer of a game or software as the group that created it but include programmer if there's an individual/organization that's particularly notable. Usually the programmers will be part of the development team or contracted out by the developers. As an example I think Doom (Q189784) does it correctly. --Cdo256 (talk) 06:24, 8 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal

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WikiProject Ontology has more than 50 participants and couldn't be pinged. Please post on the WikiProject's talk page instead.
If no one opposes, I'm going to:

--Malore (talk) 16:12, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

How is this currently being used?

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I don't see any information on how this property is currently being used. If there is significant use of the property for something other than software developer then that use of the property should be respected. I view the underlying problem here as insufficient guidance as to the intended meaning of this property. There should have been a description of what this property is for that makes its intended meaning clear. This is not an isolated case---lack of clarity as to intended meaning is endemic in Wikidata. Peter F. Patel-Schneider (talk) 16:37, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I created this discussion exactly for the lack of clarity in the description. However, you're right. The property is currently used 29000 times and only about 350 times the item is a software. I assume the property is for everything that can be developed, but not for buildings (there are architect (P84), structural engineer (P631) and manufacturer (P176).--Malore (talk) 23:22, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What I think and what I've done so far

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What I think

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I came to the conclusion that developer (P178) refers to anything that can be developed, and programmer (P943) shouldn't be a subproperty of developer (P178) because a programmer/software developer isn't necessary a creator, but can also be a maintainer. Maybe we need a "software house" property where the software is developed by a company.--Malore (talk) 00:37, 21 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What I've done

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 – The preceding unsigned comment was added by Malore (talk • contribs).

Update: The property proposal was marked as "Not done" on June 15. --Yair rand (talk) 02:55, 10 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
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