4 ms·
Maybe another variable at play here is: Evolution: modifications_size / time / codebase_size Mature systems tend to have lower Evolution. Thus, there are more
by rmbyrro 4y ago
Maybe another variable at play here is:
Evolution: modifications_size / time / codebase_size
Mature systems tend to have lower Evolution. Thus, there are more bugs being fixed than created. Over time, this leads to stability.
On the other hand, one bug fix creates three more bugs, on average. So, I don't know why on Earth stable systems are even possible...
- falcor84 4y ago>one bug fix creates three more bugs, on average Sounds really interesting, where is this stat from?
- AnimalMuppet 4y agoIt contradicts the stat that I have heard (which I can't document either): Fixing a bug has 20%-50% chance of creating a new one.
- rmbyrro 4y agoJust kidding! :D
- someweirdperson 4y ago> why on Earth stable systems are even possible... They aren't, but it just looks like they exist. The more complex something is, the less likely it is to notice a bug in the complex dependencies.
- TeMPOraL 4y agoTaken literally - "why on Earth", as in, in nature - it becomes a matter of timescale. Something we seem to be only fully realizing now - ecosystems and climate are in constant flux; they may look stable on a timescale of a human lifetime, or the lifetime of a society, but at the scale of several centuries or more, they're chaotic.
- psyklic 4y ago> Mature systems tend to have lower Evolution. Thus, there are more bugs being fixed than created. Ideally. But in practice, they must add features to sell more copies. And even if they have no evolution, OS's evolve that make the software worse over time (e.g. "modern" UIs, hardware vs software rendering, etc.). We see this in many products that were once best-of-class, e.g. Paint Shop Pro, ACID Pro, etc.