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This is what so many non-software people trying to make decisions on software fail to realize - every constraint added increases the complexity of software by a
by wrong_variable 10y ago
This is what so many non-software people trying to make decisions on software fail to realize - every constraint added increases the complexity of software by an order of magnitude.
- awinter-py 10y agowell, a binary order of magnitude maybe
- russell 10y agoIndeed. There was a paper done in the 70s or 80s that found that operating system size doubled with each new feature. Picture going from single tasking to multitasking or to virtual memory. Sorry, I cant dredge up the reference.
- sbov 10y agoI run into this at work all the time. Me: FYI, in scenario xyz, I updated the documentation to do abc. It seems like the best balance of complication and doing the right thing, especially considering it will almost never come up. Boss: why does it even matter what it does? It will come up maybe once per year. Oh, and it should do <this other really specific and complicated thing> instead, so do that. Me: sigh....
- beamatronic 10y agoMaybe you can explain it to them this way - if they know what a function is. If you have a function that does something, foo, and it takes one boolean parameter, that's two test cases. If you add a second boolean parameter, now you have at least four total test cases. And so on.
- wmeredith 10y agoAh yes, give it to them in functions and boolean parameters, that will get the non-programmers on board. /s
- oconnore 10y agoMy house has a vacuum, a lawnmower, a blender, a washing machine, 20 light switches, a 4 zone heating system, and 6 sinks/showers. I can manage 1.71e10 possible states while I sleep, why are you struggling with four?