Event handler vs. event receiver

Question

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms453149.aspx says

To create the event handler 1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. 2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project. 3. In Project Types, under Visual Basic or C#, select Event Receiver. ...

So wait, is there a difference between an event receiver and an event handler? Or is it just that what is commonly referred to as an event handler in most environments is for some reason called an event receiver in SharePoint?

For example in this link - http://blog.sharedove.com/adisjugo/index.php/2009/03/12/develop-and-deploy-a-sharepoint-event-receiver-from-the-scratch/ - the author uses "event handler" throughout, except when referencing the SharePoint class names. Googling for "event receiver" turns up mostly SharePoint references, with a few Microsoft Office hits here and there.

If anyone has the definitive word on this, I'd appreciate it.

Answer 1

Both mean the same; handle the Event or receive the event.

Answer 2

Going back to WSS2/SP2003 it was Event Handler. With WSS3/SP2007 it changed to Event Receiver...there is even a setting on the Web App in CA that let's you enable/disable support for backwards-compatible event handling.

In the context of 2010, "event handler" or "event receiver" is one in the same.

Answer 3

An Event Receiver is managed code that responds to SharePoint Foundation events whenever specific triggering actions occur - which is same as Event Handler.

The term "Event Receiver" is specific to context of SharePoint where as "Event handler" is a general term used for any subroutine that handles inputs received in a program. Event handlers are a central concept in event-driven programming.