Get rid of the "scope" tag? [closed]

Question

We have both a scope and a variable-scope. It seems to me one should be a synonym for the other.

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edit

After @al-everett's answer below, I realized the problem might be the scope tag in general. I can think of two (maybe three) distinct definitions that fit: The vast majority of questions tagged scope seem to regard variable scope in a particular language, but some also refer to project scope (as in scope creep).

We also use the term at my company to refer to application scope--which data is being operated on or displayed (active date range, especially)--but I'm not sure if this is an industry-wide use of the term, or just our local lingo.

Is this tag just too general/ambiguous?

Answer 1

I think the scope tag should be black listed as it has no meaning on its own. Then all the questions on the scope tag should be retagged.

Answer 2

Update: 3 years later, there has been no change.

While I support deletion of scope in general, until that happens (if that happens), in any case variable-scope should a synonym for scope.

Current tag descriptions:

scope: Scope is an enclosing context where values and expressions are associated. Use this tag for questions about different types of scope as well for questions where scope may be unclear.

variable-scope: A variable scope is the context within a computer program in which a variable name is valid and can be used.

While there are valid differences between the two; it appears that many questions tagged scope should have been tagged variable-scope instead: The reason is because most people would refer to that as just "scope". I do not feel there is much value in separating the two anyways (in fact, I don't feel like their is much value in either of these tags, in all cases the general language tag is appropriate -- also, "scope" itself seems frequently misused to refer specifically to Ruby on Rails' scope).

I think the blurry line between these two tags, the common misuse of one when the other (or something else entirely) was meant, and the relative non-usefulness of these tags in general warrants a merge.

Even better would be a blacklist of both, after manually retagging the Ruby on Rails scope questions.

Answer 3

Looking at the questions, I think variable-scope should be set as the synonym for scope. However, I don't have enough rep in the tags to make the suggestion.

Answer 4

"Scope" is too generic for a synonym, I think. What about Requirements scope?

Answer 5

The question is, what is the scope of the scope (lots of flavours to chose from):

• scope× 1039
• variable-scope× 397
• transactionscope× 207
• named-scope× 152
• cscope× 47
• gyroscope× 21
• scope-identity× 20
• default-scope× 14
• lexical-scope× 12
• sessionscope× 9
• scope-creep× 7
• dynamic-scope× 7
• scope-resolution× 6
• scopes× 5
• transaction-scope× 4
• session-scope× 4
• global-scope× 4
• scope-chain× 4
• oscilloscope× 4
• named-scopes× 4
• scopeguard× 4
• flash-scope× 4
• shareddbconnectionscope× 3
• scoped-lock× 3
• scoped-ptr× 3
• anonymous-scope× 2
• scope-id× 2
• inputscope× 2
• sync-scope
• scoped-proxy