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Except for one bit which was impossible to implement, though the spec said otherwise - even the client didn't realise this, but John picked it up. Let me see i

Except for one bit which was impossible to implement, though the spec said otherwise - even the client didn't realise this, but John picked it up. Let me see if I got this right: it was impossible to implement, but the spec said it was possible. The client didn't realise it was impossible to implement, but John made it possible anyway. So the spec was right all along, and John implemented it? Am I missing something awesome here that uber-hackers totally get? Can someone explain this to me?

bisceglie 17y ago
John did not make the 'impossible bit' possible, he discovered its inclusion in the spec and recognized whatever it was as impossible to implement.
- dpritchett 17y ago
  So it was an NP-complete problem with a fixed time requirement? Edit: That was rude. My apologies.
  - kscaldef 17y ago
    More likely it was simply logically inconsistent. That's not at all rare in requirements documents.
  - eru 17y ago
    A P problem with a fixed time requirement is also not possible. (But NP may be possible to solve in polynomial time. Who knows?)
    - SandB0x 17y ago
      John knew?
kscaldef 17y ago
I think that's meant to read "but John picked up on it". I.e., he found the error in the spec which the client had overlooked.
- shrikant 17y ago
  Ah okay, did not parse it that way at all. Thanks, much appreciated.