Restriction


noun
1.
something that restricts; a restrictive condition or regulation; limitation.
2.
the act of restricting.
3.
the state of being restricted.
noun
1.
something that restricts; a restrictive measure, law, etc
2.
the act of restricting or the state of being restricted
3.
(logic, maths) a condition that imposes a constraint on the possible values of a variable or on the domain of arguments of a function

A bug or design error that limits a program’s capabilities, and which is sufficiently egregious that nobody can quite work up enough nerve to describe it as a feature. Often used (especially by marketroid types) to make it sound as though some crippling bogosity had been intended by the designers all along, or was forced upon them by arcane technical constraints of a nature no mere user could possibly comprehend (these claims are almost invariably false).
Old-time hacker Joseph M. Newcomer advises that whenever choosing a quantifiable but arbitrary restriction, you should make it either a power of 2 or a power of 2 minus 1. If you impose a limit of 17 items in a list, everyone will know it is a random number – on the other hand, a limit of 15 or 16 suggests some deep reason (involving 0- or 1-based indexing in binary) and you will get less flamage for it. Limits which are round numbers in base 10 are always especially suspect.
[Jargon File]

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  • Restriction-fragment

    noun 1. a length of DNA cut from the strand by a restriction enzyme. restriction fragment noun 1. (genetics) a fragment of a DNA molecule cleaved by a restriction enzyme See also RFLP

  • Restrictionism

    [ri-strik-shuh-niz-uh m] /rɪˈstrɪk ʃəˌnɪz əm/ noun 1. a policy, especially by a national government or legislative body, of enacting restrictions on the amount of imported goods, immigration, etc.

  • Restrictionist

    [ri-strik-shuh-niz-uh m] /rɪˈstrɪk ʃəˌnɪz əm/ noun 1. a policy, especially by a national government or legislative body, of enacting restrictions on the amount of imported goods, immigration, etc.

  • Restriction-play

    noun, Checkers. 1. a limited number of opening moves that are predetermined by their chance selection from an accepted list.


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