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Contingency vs Dependency - What's the difference?

contingency | dependency |

As nouns the difference between contingency and dependency

is that contingency is the quality of being contingent, of happening by chance; unpredictability while dependency is a state of dependence; a refusal to exercise initiative.

contingency

Noun

  • (uncountable) The quality of being contingent, of happening by chance; unpredictability.
  • (countable) A possibility; something which may or may not happen. A chance occurrence, especially in finance, unexpected expenses.
  • (countable) An amount of money which a party to a contract has to pay to the other party (usually the supplier of a major project to the client) if he or she does not fulfill the contract according to the specification.
  • (logic, countable) A statement which is neither a tautology nor a contradiction.
  • Synonyms

    * (quality of happening by chance) possibility * See also

    Antonyms

    * (quality of happening by chance) inevitability, impossibility

    Coordinate terms

    * (statement which is neither a tautology nor a contradiction) contradiction, tautology

    Derived terms

    * contingency plan

    dependency

    English

    Noun

    (dependencies)
  • A state of dependence; a refusal to exercise initiative.
  • Frank's sullen dependency was driving his father nuts.
  • Something dependent on, or subordinate to, something else:
  • In the United States' governmental structure, the military is conceived as a dependency under the executive branch.
  • A colony, or a territory subject to rule by an external power.
  • A dependence on a habit-forming substance such as a drug or alcohol; addiction.
  • (computing) Reliance on the functionality provided by some other, external component.
  • This library has a lot of dependencies . We have to compile all of those other libraries first.