Using precisely defined mathematical words in contexts where they only make sense vaguely to a layperson ruins their original usage. Make up a new word. Repurpose a shitty English word. But leave our damn maths words alone.
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According to M-W "isomorphic" has pre-existing definitions from medicine and chemistry that could align better with what OP is trying to say. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isomorphic
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To clarify, if it was a true example of isomorphism it wouldn't be contingent on a single runtime environment or language.
A better example of isomorphism in computing would be two modules of code that perform the same function and have the same abstract interface but that are written in DIFFERENT languages.
isomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality but that are written in different languages and executed in different runtimes
monomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality and that are written in the same language and have the same runtime
heteromorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality and that are written in the same language but run in different runtimes
homomorphic: modules that have the same abstract interface and functionality but that are written in different langauges that run on the same runtime
See, the thing is... languages are compiled to runtimes, right? But they are transpiled to other languages...
There surface area of this discussion is very interesting and seems to have some interesting properties, and if you don't mind the math pun, it is truly a complex issue!
As for how to actually name these different things, I don't think I really mind... maybe isomorphic and monomorphic swap in the above definition... I've been reading some latin and greek roots to try and give them good names, but I'd love some suggestions!
For example, a function written in Scala that functions the same as a function written in JRuby and compiled to the JVM would be an example of a "homomorphism".
And a function written in JavaScript that is compiled to run in both node and the web browser is an example of "heteromorphism".
A function written in JavaScript that is compiled to run in the Ruby runtime is an example of "isomorphism".
Monomorphic would just be sort of like an identity property.
Also, I have no idea what I'm going on about, so please help me fix the language!
Maybe isomorphic IS the correct term for what is going on in the article, who knows? :)
According to http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/isomorphism
one meaning is similar form. As in - server and client code have similar form.
Imagine a graph theory researcher calling a program which handles graphs a web app. Isn't that confusing?
And there's a (unsolved) conjecture that every NP-complete language are p-isomorphic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berman%E2%80%93Hartmanis_conjec...
That link doesn't say that those definitions were "pre-existing". They say the first use was on 1862 but failed in specifying in which context was used first.
(Mathematics) A one-to-one correspondence between the elements of two sets such
that the result of an operation on elements of one set corresponds to the result
of the analogous operation on their images in the other set.
If there is an isomorphism here, it is between the separate runtimes (client and server), and not the language.
I was inspired to use "isomorphic" from a 2011 article by Nodejitsu [1]. It seemed like a fine way to describe this approach. I would gladly use a better would if I were to find one.
[1] http://blog.nodejitsu.com/scaling-isomorphic-javascript-code
Programmers these days!...
A few ideas:
"End-to-End JavaScript" - popular but not exactly what you mean but close
"Run Anywhere JavaScript"
"Write Once JavaScript"
"Two Sided JavaScript" - server-side and browser-side
"Browse-N-Serve Javascript"
OTOH, this is talking about the same thing running in two different contexts. More appropriate terms might be uniform, homogeneous, ...
Before maths, it was probably mostly geologists that used it. It's also used plenty in evolutionary biology, but this was probably after maths (not sure though).
The fact that it's used in math is incidental. It's used in biology and chemistry as well. It does leave space for ambiguity because of closeness of math and computer science, but overall it's correct usage.
Polymorphic: many shaped. Monomorphic: single shaped. Isomorphic: same shaped.
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