# target

> 10-target.com is a reference on the word "target": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

A target is a goal you aim for, a person or thing you focus on, or an object of criticism or praise. People set targets at work, on a shooting range, or in marketing campaigns.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- build target (software compilation and build systems): treat the word as a named output, dependency, or rule to execute, such as in Make, Bazel, or CMake
- target variable (machine learning and statistics): identify the output column or label being predicted in a dataset or model training pipeline
- target element or node (web development and DOM manipulation): select the specific HTML element that triggered an event or that an action applies to
- target network (reinforcement learning): refer to a separate, slowly-updated copy of a neural network used to stabilize training

## When a person says

- "Hit the target"
  They mean: achieve the goal or score points
  Avoid: trigger build execution, deploy code, or flag an action as completed in a CI/CD system
  Read it as: "Achieve the goal or reach the objective"
- "Change the target"
  They mean: switch focus to a different goal or audience
  Avoid: alter the build rule, switch the prediction label, or retarget a DOM element causing errors
  Read it as: "Switch to a different goal or focus on a different audience"
- "The target is wrong"
  They mean: the goal or objective is misguided
  Avoid: flag a data label as incorrect or corrupt, triggering retraining or data cleaning pipelines
  Read it as: "The goal or objective is wrong"

## Words it is confused with

- goal: purely human aim, no technical system output
- label: explicitly the assigned answer in machine learning, not the general aim
- objective: optimization direction, often a function to minimize or maximize
- aim: intention without system execution connotations
- destination: physical or endpoint location, not a rule or variable

## Pages

- [target](https://10-target.com/): the same entry, written for people