Use these linguistics tools to make Java applications your English teacher would be proud of.
by Rod Coffin and Matt Smith
August 2, 2007
any of us have found ways to forget about grammar since finishing school and entering the "real world" of business and commerce. Unfortunately the division between academia and the business world isn't quite so cut and dry. The way we use language and words in day-to-day life greatly influences how people perceive and treat us. The same is true of software applications; people have increasingly higher expectations for computer software. More and more, they expect human-computer interactions to be steeped in the fluid language and thought processes of humans rather than the linear, rigid, procedures of computers. For example, people now expect search engines to understand English words, resolve spelling errors, and deal with plurality. They expect word processors to catch and even correct their grammar errors, and call-center systems to understand their speech.
This article introduces several types of linguistic processing techniques and tools that you can use in your applications to help bridge the gap between the literal world of computers and the fluid logic of humans. The landscape of linguistic processing is so broad that one article can't possibly cover everything, but this article may prompt you to notice areas in your own applications where applying a little linguistic expertise can have a big impact on users' experience.
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any of us have found ways to forget about grammar since finishing school and entering the "real world" of business and commerce. Unfortunately the division between academia and the business world isn't quite so cut and dry. The way we use language and words in day-to-day life greatly influences how people perceive and treat us. The same is true of software applications; people have increasingly higher expectations for computer software. More and more, they expect human-computer interactions to be steeped in the fluid language and thought processes of humans rather than the linear, rigid, procedures of computers. For example, people now expect search engines to understand English words, resolve spelling errors, and deal with plurality. They expect word processors to catch and even correct their grammar errors, and call-center systems to understand their speech.
