> Both "normalize" and "canonicalize" seem to mean:
>
> Put into a standard form.
>
> Do they in fact mean the same thing? If so, why have two
> terms? Why not have just one term?
A canonical term, perhaps? Or a normalized one?
Yes, they mean the same thing (when used generically). Of course, particular
kinds of normalization or canonicalization use one or the other: e.g.
Unicode normalization, XML canonicalization.
>Why not have just one term?
People like inventing new words when they think an existing word already has
overloaded meanings.
Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
