Anyone about to read this post shouldn't take it too SERIOUSLY, and yet shouldn't complete dismiss it either. I've been using and hearing a term for a while now, and it's inherant nebulosity (I've been wanting to use that word for years) is driving me batty. The term is 'map'. I've used it enough myself that I've acquired a fuzzy understanding of it, but nothing concrete.

The FOLLOWING is a quote from the MS Press 70-270 Exam Prep book. Incidentially, this is the quote that finally spurred me to ask for clarification on the term. Quote: "The TCP/IP suite of protocols maps to a four layer conceptual model that includes the following layers: [...]" Okay. Great. Translation please?

I understand the phraseology "Map to a network drive" (i.e. Make a CONNECTION to a shared drive that resides on the network). But the above quote seems, to me anyway, to be stretching the term a bit. Here is what my understanding of the broad term 'map' means: To make a connection or correlation. A logical connection to the real or physical object. In other words, a Windows shortcut could be said to 'map' to the original (or source) application. Here is my attempt at a human readable translation of the above quote: "The TCP/IP suite of protocols can be understood in terms of a four layer conceptual model that includes the following layers: [...]" Better?

I suppose the term grew from the concept of a map showing you directions to a real place, so the COMPUTER Science term 'map' means something vaguely similar. BTW, Wikipedia's definition has two sentences that are almost comprehensible. The rest is for UberGeeks only. I think just griping about it in this post has ironed out some of the rough spots. You may disregard this post entirely if you wish, but any further clarification will be appreciated.


--Oober

P.S. I'm saving gripes about other marvelously CORPOREAL terminology like "logical", "abstraction", "dynamic", "schema" and "network connectivity" for a later date. You have been warned.