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= N =
naive user
naive adj.
1. Untutored in the perversities of some particular
program or system; one who still tries to do things in an intuitive
way, rather than the right way (in really good designs these
coincide, but most designs aren't `really good' in the
appropriate sense). This trait is completely unrelated to general
maturity or competence, or even competence at any other specific
program. It is a sad commentary on the primitive state of
computing that the natural opposite of this term is often claimed
to be `experienced user' but is really more like `cynical
user'. 2. Said of an algorithm that doesn't take advantage of
some superior but advanced technique, e.g., the bubble sort. It
may imply naivete on the part of the programmer, although there are
situations where a naive algorithm is preferred, because it is more
important to keep the code comprehensible than to go for maximum
performance. "I know the linear search is naive, but in this case the
list typically only has half a dozen items." Compare brute force.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.
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