In my experience, "tool" and "utility" are synonyms and can be used
interchangeably. Of course, if we follow the elementary tech writing
rule "Always use the same word to mean the same thing," we ought to
choose one of them and use it consistently, but that may be too much to
ask in community-generated docs. The merger of the GS and WWD books does
give you a chance to do it right for these, though!
Which you use I think depends on whether you prefer Anglo-Saxon
monosyllables or Latinate polysyllables.
HTH,
Kim
Laura Stewart wrote:
I'm trying to be accurate in the Derby documentation when discussing
dblook, ij, and sysinfo.
Are these "tools" or "utilities"? Is there a difference between a
"tool" and a "utility"?
Should one term apply to all of these or should we use different terms
depending on what it does? For example, one of these simply dumps
info to the screen (sysinfo). Is that different than opening up a mini
application (ij)?
I'd appreciate your options on the correct term to use to describe
each of these.
