How do describe “each day”, “once a week” or “every second year”?

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I want to describe a repetition for an event.

A single event can have multiple repetitions because it can occur e.g. every second week (a regular happening) + once a year (special annual occasion).

So each repetition has its own:

  • start date and time
  • end date and time
  • exclusion – list of dates when an event is skipped (holidays etc.)
  • something like “day/month/year/…”
  • something like “second, third, …”

I’m thinking about which is the best to describe the properties of a repetition:

I know that for “weekly/monthly/yearly/…” I should choose frequency.

I wonder if for “every X” I can use interval or maybe period?

So far, I found two related topics:

Answer

As a software developer that also frequents the English stack exchange, are you asking a naming convention related question? If so, you should check out naming conventions of frameworks such as Joda Time or Quartz.NET.

I frequently have used these terms when defining a Schedule, which I assume is what you’re naming a “Repetition”.

something like “second, third, …”

I have used Interval for this, according to definition #2 here which states “a period of temporary cessation; pause”.

“Period” is a length of time, while “Interval” refers to the time between two actions.

I know that for “weekly/monthly/yearly/…” I should choose frequency.

I would agree with this conclusion. Frequency being how often the schedule should be repeated. Or “rate of occurrence” according to definition #2 here.

So in summary:

  • Frequency defines how often the Schedule gets repeated (daily, weekly, monthly, etc).
  • Interval defines how much time should pass between actions (every X hours, every X days, every X months, etc).

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Kamil Lelonek , Answer Author : Brett Allen

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