Words can have many uses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_(disambiguation)

> In computer science, optics are a general class of bidirectional transformations

Virtually everything in computer science is a metaphor. A computer was a human being before it was a machine. A block of memory, an array of values, an index into a structure, most of the vocabulary we use every day is built out of metaphors.

The name, monocle, also further misleads those expecting the physics topic. They actually have a nice logo with a lens and the lambda symbol which is often the symbol used for wavelength.

"this has nothing to do with classes, which in sociology and related fields are strata which society can be analysed as being divided into"

Imagine my disappointment when I spent the time to set up a Cassandra instance and it did not immediately materialize a demigod woman who knew the answers to everything but was cursed to have no one believe her.

This is why I read the comments before I click on the link. :)

It’s a metaphor.