• Hacker's Laws

    LAWS OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
    ----------------------------
    1> There is always one more bug.
    2> Any given program, when running, is
    obsolete
    3> If a program is useless, it will
    have to be documented.
    4> If a program is useful, it will
    have to be changed.
    5> Any program will expand to fill all
    available memory.
    6> The value of a program is
    proportional to the weight of its
    output.
    7> Program complexity grows until it
    exceeds the capability of the
    programmer to maintain it.
    8> Make it possible for programmers to
    write in English and you will find
    out that programmers cannot write
    in English.

    WEINBERG'S LAW
    --------------
    If builders built buildings the way
    programmers wrote programs, then the
    first woodpecker that came along would
    destroy civilization.

    HARE'S LAW OF LARGE PROGRAMS
    ----------------------------
    Inside every large program is a small
    program struggling to get out.

    TROUTMAN'S PROGRAMMING LAWS
    ---------------------------
    1> If a test installation functions
    subsequent systems will
    malfunction.
    2> Not until a program has been in
    production for at least six months
    will the most harmful error then
    be discovered.
    3> Job control cards that cannot be
    arranged in improper order will
    be.
    4> Interchangeable tapes won't
    5> If the input editor has been
    designed to reject all bad input,
    an ingenious idiot will discover a
    method to get bad data past it.
    6> Machines work, people should think.

    GOLUB'S LAWS OF COMPUTERDOM
    ---------------------------
    1> A carelessly planned project takes
    three times longer to complete
    than expected; a carefully planned
    project will take only twice as
    long.
    2> The effort required to correct the
    error increases geometrically with
    time.

    BRADLEY'S BROMIDE
    -----------------
    If computers get too powerful, we can
    organize them into a committee - -
    that will do them in.