Hardware Compatibility

Roles: plug, socket, adapter, connector, pin, standard, mismatch

The physical problem of making devices with incompatible connectors work together — plugs that don’t fit sockets, pins in the wrong configuration, voltage standards that clash. Hardware compatibility vocabulary pervades software interface design because both domains confront the same core challenge: two systems that should interoperate but weren’t designed with each other in mind. The metaphor emphasizes shape over function: the capability is present on both sides; the connection geometry is wrong.

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