On Mon, 2003-12-15 at 17:57, Timwi wrote:
(What does "boilerplate" mean anyway, and
where does that word come
from?)
Boilerplate is writing that is reused without being changed much from
the original. Programmers often use the term "boilerplate code", but the
term really comes from the early 1900s. Boilerplate is steel that is
used in steam boilers. It is text that is "strong as steel".
In the 1890s, boilerplate was actually cast or stamped in metal ready
for the printing press and distributed to newspapers around the United
States. Until the 1950s, thousands of newspapers received and used this
kind of boilerplate from the nation's largest supplier, the Western
Newspaper Union. Some companies also sent out press releases as
boilerplate so that they had to be printed as written.
(Paraphrased from
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211686,00.html)