Task vs Assignment - What's the difference?

In computing terms the difference between task and assignment

is that task is a process or execution of a program while assignment is an operation that assigns a value to a variable.

As nouns the difference between task and assignment

is that task is a piece of work done as part of one’s duties while assignment is the act of assigning; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks.

As a verb task

is to assign a task to, or impose a task on.

task

English

Noun

(en noun)

A piece of work done as part of one’s duties.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A new prescription , passage=As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one.}}

A difficult or tedious undertaking.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample

, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}

An objective.

(computing) A process or execution of a program.

Usage notes

* Adjectives often applied to "task": difficult, easy, simple, hard, tough, complex, not-so-easy, challenging, complicated, tricky, formidable, arduous, laborious, onerous, small, big, huge, enormous, tremendous, gigantic, mammoth, colossal, gargantuan, social, intellectual, theological, important, basic, trivial, unpleasant, demanding, pleasant, noble, painful, grim, responsible, rewarding, boring, ungrateful, delightful, glorious, agreeable.

Synonyms

* (piece of work) chore * (difficult undertaking) undertaking * (objective) objective, goal * (process) process

Derived terms

* multitasking * subtask * task force * take to task * taskable * taskbody * tasklet * taskmaster

Verb

(en verb)

To assign a task to, or impose a task on.

On my first day in the office, I was tasked with sorting a pile of invoices.

* 1610 , , act 1 scene 2

All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come / To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly, / To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride / On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task / Ariel and all his quality.

* Dryden

There task thy maids, and exercise the loom.

To oppress with severe or excessive burdens; to tax.

To charge, as with a fault.

* Beaumont and Fletcher

Too impudent to task me with those errors.

Anagrams

* * *

assignment
English
(wikipedia assignment)
Noun
(en noun)
The act of assigning; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks.

This flow chart represents the assignment of tasks in our committee.

The categorization of something as belonging to a specific category.

We should not condone the assignment of asylum seekers to that of people smugglers.

An assigned task.

The assignment the department gave him proved to be quite challenging.

A position to which someone is assigned.

Unbeknownst to Mr Smith, his new assignment was in fact a demotion.

(education) A task given to students, such as homework or coursework.

Mrs Smith gave out our assignments , and said we had to finish them by Monday.

(legal) A transfer of something from one person to another, especially property, or a claim or right.

The assignment of the lease has not been finalised yet.

(legal) A document that effects this transfer.

Once you receive the assignment in the post, be sure to sign it and send it back as soon as possible.

(computing) An operation that assigns a value to a variable.