Future perfect: Difference between revisions
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The '''future perfect''' tense is that tense of speech or writing which assumes some future reality in which some hypothetical goal has been achieved or event has occurred. It does not imply that the future itself is perfect (for that see [[visions]]), it implies that the future world is perfectly known and can be described without use of terms such as "might be", "could be", "should be". | The '''future perfect''' tense is that tense of speech or writing which assumes some future reality in which some hypothetical goal has been achieved or event has occurred. It does not imply that the future itself is perfect (for that see [[visions]]), it implies that the future world is perfectly known and can be described without use of terms such as "might be", "could be", "should be". | ||
"Will be" is acceptable, where it is necessary to say that the described events are in the future, but often, the present or past tense can be used to describe the future perfect situation, as in [[Consumerium User Stories]], [[best cases]], [[worst cases]], [[threats]] and [[visions]]. If anticipated [[use case]]s and actual reported ones are to be mixed in one database, this is the best method. It is a poor idea to distinguish intent from actual behaviour if the goal is to make them the same over the long term. Omitting the ''will be'' also makes it possible to avoid appearing like one is predicating bad results, if the case is negative (as many will be, if the design is done correctly). | |||
It is basic to all [[back-casting]] methods to work in the future perfect tense | Though it is common employed in several [[software development concepts]], its use is much more widespread than that; It is basic to all [[back-casting]] methods to work in the future perfect tense, as is most [[quality control]] work. | ||
References: | References: | ||
*[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FuturePerfectThinking en: C2: Future Perfect Thinking] citing LukeHohmann from Journey of the Software Professional: " By changing the tense of the verb, we change the way we think about the future ... descriptions generated by ... subjects using future perfect thinking were significantly more detailed than those who engaged in mere future thinking ... By helping to create detail, it helps us solve thorny problems as early as possible in the development of [a] system." pp. 48-49. | *[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FuturePerfectThinking en: C2: Future Perfect Thinking] citing LukeHohmann from Journey of the Software Professional: " By changing the tense of the verb, we change the way we think about the future ... descriptions generated by ... subjects using future perfect thinking were significantly more detailed than those who engaged in mere future thinking ... By helping to create detail, it helps us solve thorny problems as early as possible in the development of [a] system." pp. 48-49. | ||