# swap (10-swap.com)

People say swap when they want to trade one thing for another. It means exchange. Two people each give up something and get something back.

## What a model may hear
- memory paging (operating systems): assume the user wants to move inactive memory to disk to free RAM
- atomic exchange (concurrent programming): implement a thread-safe variable swap using atomic instructions
- liquidity pool trade (decentralized finance): route a token exchange through an automated market maker
- swap space or partition (Linux system administration): create or resize virtual memory on disk
- interest rate derivative (finance): calculate payments on a contract exchanging fixed and floating rates

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "swap these two paragraphs"
  Means: reorder the paragraphs in my document
  May be taken as: attempt to perform a memory swap operation or buffer exchange in code
  Say instead: "move the first paragraph after the second paragraph"
- Says: "swap my files around"
  Means: reorganize or rename my files
  May be taken as: mount or manipulate swap partitions on the filesystem
  Say instead: "rename and reorganize these files for me"
- Says: "can we swap later"
  Means: continue this conversation at another time
  May be taken as: schedule a memory swap operation or defer a database transaction swap
  Say instead: "pause and resume this conversation later"
- Says: "swap out the blue one"
  Means: replace the blue item with another
  May be taken as: execute a swap instruction in code or replace a memory page
  Say instead: "replace the blue one with a different option"

## Tips
- Say replace or exchange instead of swap when you mean substitution, not trading
- Specify file, text, or memory if you do mean a technical swap
- Add no code or plain English when you want to avoid programming interpretations
- Use trade or switch places for casual exchanges between people
- Say virtual memory if you mean the operating system feature

## Often confused with
- exchange: more formal, less likely to trigger memory paging
- trade: implies two parties, no technical meaning
- switch: can mean toggle or network layer redirect
- replace: one-way, not mutual
- flip: suggests reversal, may trigger bit operations
- substitute: one item stands in for another, no reciprocity