It’s important to be specific. Avoid using the following:

• etc.• ...• “and so on.”

It’s important to be specific. Avoid using the following:

• etc.• ...• “and so on.”

Example:

I am familiar with several programming languages:

Java, C++, etc.

If it’s not important to tell the reader which languages the writer knows then it’s better to write this way:

I am familiar with several programming languages.

If the writer wants the reader to know which languages he or she knows, then it’s better to write all of them:

I know Java, C++, C#, and Perl.

Example:

I am familiar with several programming languages:

Java, C++, etc.

Can you guess what other languages the writer knows?

Does he know C#?

Unless the reader knows the author, he can not know what “etc.” means in this sentence.

Instead of:

Even integers are numbers like 2, 4, etc.

Write:

Even integers are numbers like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12.

When you make the list longer, it’s easy for the reader to guess what comes next.

Instead of:

Many of the pioneers of computer science theory were

mathematicians: Alan Turing, John Von Neumann...

Write:

Many of the pioneers of computer science theory were

mathematicians. Examples include Alan Turing, John

Von Neumann, Charles Babbage, and Donald Knuth.

When you make the list longer, it’s easy for the reader to guess what comes next.

Hans Anderson 2007-Present: Lecturer at FPT Greenwich

Programmes, FPT University. 2007: M.S., Computational Mathematics,

University of Minnesota 2001: B.A., Computer Science, Gustavus

Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN