paleolimbot commented on issue #41691:
URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow/issues/41691#issuecomment-2115140776

   I was definitely confused by the term "logical type" when I became involved 
with Arrow several years ago and came slowly to the understanding that every 
system seems to use the terms logical and physical in a slightly different way 
and that it is more of a spectrum than a dichotomy.
   
   We also have the term "encoding" used in two different ways: "run end 
encoded" is a "type" but "dictionary" is basically a special case in Schema.fbs 
and in the Arrow C Data interface. Implementations typically present these both 
as "types" (e.g., `pa.dictionary()`).
   
   I agree that it is confusing but I am not sure what it should be replaced 
with. I suppose they could just be called "types" and "layouts", perhaps with 
dictionary encoding being a layout rather than a type?


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