Pattern vs Feature - What's the difference?

In computing terms the difference between pattern and feature

is that pattern is a text string containing wildcards, used for matching while feature is a beneficial capability of a piece of software.

As nouns the difference between pattern and feature

is that pattern is model, example while feature is one's structure or make-up; form, shape, bodily proportions.

As verbs the difference between pattern and feature

is that pattern is to apply a pattern while feature is to ascribe the greatest importance to something within a certain context.

pattern

English

(wikipedia pattern)

Noun

(en noun)

Model, example.

# Something from which a copy is made; a model or outline.

#* 1923 , ‘President Wilson’, Time , 18 Jun 1923:

There is no reason why all colleges and universities should be cut to the same pattern .

# Someone or something seen as an example to be imitated; an exemplar.

#* 1946 , Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy , I.16:

The Platonic Socrates was a pattern to subsequent philosophers for many ages.

# A representative example.

# (US) The material needed to make a piece of clothing.

# (textiles) The paper or cardboard template from which the parts of a garment are traced onto fabric prior to cutting out and assembling.

# (metalworking, dated) A full-sized model around which a mould of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mould without damage.

# (computing) A text string containing wildcards, used for matching.

There were no files matching the pattern *.txt.

Decorative arrangement.

# A design, motif or decoration, especially formed from regular repeated elements.

#* 2003 , Valentino, ‘Is there a future in fashion's past?’, Time , 5 Feb 2003:

On my way to work the other day, I stopped at a church in Rome and saw a painting of the Madonna. The subtle pattern of blues and golds in the embroidery of her dress was so amazing that I used it to design a new evening dress for my haute couture.

# A naturally-occurring or random arrangement of shapes, colours etc. which have a regular or decorative effect.

#* 2011 , Rachel Cooke, The Observer , 19 Jun 2011:

He lifted the entire joint or fowl up into the air, speared on a carving fork, and sliced pieces off it so that they fell on the plate below in perfectly organised patterns .

# The given spread, range etc. of shot fired from a gun.

# A particular sequence of events, facts etc. which can be understood, used to predict the future, or seen to have a mathematical, geometric, statistical etc. relationship.

#* 1980 , ‘Shifting Targets’, Time , 6 Oct 1980:

The three killings pointed to an ugly new shift in the enduring pattern of violence in Northern Ireland: the mostly Protestant Ulster police, or those suspected of affiliation with them, have become more prominent targets for the I.R.A. than the British troops.

#* 2003 , Kate Hudson, The Guardian , 14 Aug 2003:

Look again at how the US and its allies behaved then, and the pattern is unmistakable.

# (linguistics) An intelligible arrangement in a given area of language.

Synonyms

* original (1) * stencil (1) * tessellation (2) * category (3) * cycle (4) * similarity (5) * See also

Antonyms

* antipattern

Derived terms

* design pattern

Verb

(en verb)

to apply a pattern

To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.

* Sir T. Herbert

[A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in Paradise.

to follow an example

to fit into a pattern

To serve as an example for.

Synonyms

* model * categorize (2)

feature

English

(wikipedia feature)

Noun

(en noun)

(label) One's structure or make-up; form, shape, bodily proportions.

* 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , IV.ii:

all the powres of nature, / Which she by art could vse vnto her will, / And to her seruice bind each liuing creature; / Through secret vnderstanding of their feature .

An important or main item.

(label) A long, prominent, article or item in the media, or the department that creates them; frequently used technically to distinguish content from news.

Any of the physical constituents of the face (eyes, nose, etc.).

(label) A beneficial capability of a piece of software.

The cast or structure of anything, or of any part of a thing, as of a landscape, a picture, a treaty, or an essay; any marked peculiarity or characteristic; as, one of the features of the landscape.

(label) Something discerned from physical evidence that helps define, identify, characterize, and interpret an archeological site.

A feature' of many Central Texas prehistoric archeological sites is a low spreading pile of stones called a rock midden. Other ' features at these sites may include small hearths.

(label) Characteristic forms or shapes of a part. For example, a hole, boss, slot, cut, chamfer, or fillet.

Synonyms

* See also

Derived terms

* featural * feature article

External links

Verb

(featur)

To ascribe the greatest importance to something within a certain context.

To star, to contain.

to appear; to make an appearance.

* {{quote-news

, year=2009 , date=November 27 , author= , title=Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has 'best guitar riff' , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love, Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water and Layla by Derek and the Dominos also featured in the top five. }}