The other replies have said what was meant, but I don’t think they’ve explicitly addressed whether or not that is the sense used in the idea of NP.
I would say… it is at least somewhat similar.
A problem in NP might be of the form “For this value of X, does there exist a Y such that q(X,Y)?” for some predicate q and value X, and where when the answer is “yes”, the answer of “yes” can be verified by being given a value Y, and evaluating q(X,Y).
(Specifically in the case of 3SAT, X would be a 3CNF formula, Y would be an assignment of values to the variables in the formula, and q(X,Y) would be “the formula X when evaluated with variable assignments Y, results in 'true’.”.)
This is sort of like the task of “Given requirements X that can be checked automatically, produce code Y which satisfies those requirements”, except that in this case the question is specifically asking for Y, not just asking whether such a Y exists, but.. well, often in practice when one wants a solution to a problem in NP, one actually wants the witness, not just whether there exists such a Y, right?
So, I would say there is a substantial similarity, but also a difference.
I would say… it is at least somewhat similar.
A problem in NP might be of the form “For this value of X, does there exist a Y such that q(X,Y)?” for some predicate q and value X, and where when the answer is “yes”, the answer of “yes” can be verified by being given a value Y, and evaluating q(X,Y). (Specifically in the case of 3SAT, X would be a 3CNF formula, Y would be an assignment of values to the variables in the formula, and q(X,Y) would be “the formula X when evaluated with variable assignments Y, results in 'true’.”.)
This is sort of like the task of “Given requirements X that can be checked automatically, produce code Y which satisfies those requirements”, except that in this case the question is specifically asking for Y, not just asking whether such a Y exists, but.. well, often in practice when one wants a solution to a problem in NP, one actually wants the witness, not just whether there exists such a Y, right?
So, I would say there is a substantial similarity, but also a difference.