5 ms·

Can you give an example of a non-trivial problem with a well defined set of requirements that you can fit on one page?

troupo 3y ago
No plan survives contact with reality.
sclarisse 3y ago
To support our next-gen machine learning system, we need a 10 exabyte storage array. It should host a system accessible over TCP/IP or Infiniband that can stream random-access 1MB blocks of data to 65,536 different computers, at continuous loads of 64 GB/second each computer, using a protocol of your choice or design. Correct for all data corruption and do not lose a single bit during the next 1,000 years of operation. Yes, we can add more specs but these alone should be pretty daunting.
- ubercore 3y ago
  There are money, operations, and delivery time requirements, just off the top of my head, not expressed in that requirement that vastly changes the solution.
  - DevFem666 3y ago
    And the client is all over you/the company.
- dylan604 3y ago
  What does this have to do with building software? This is something submitted on a form for hardware for a capex
  - sclarisse 3y ago
    If you think you’re gonna organize that many bits and not lose them for centuries at a time, you’re seriously underestimating the need for data replication and error correction algorithms, first of all.
    - dylan604 3y ago
      Again, that's a hardware storage solution's problem. Adjust the parity level in the filesystem. Unless you're writing the requirements for building the software for a storage platform.
      - sclarisse 3y ago
        … yes, that is in fact the point
whynotmaybe 3y ago
As a usual bore, I'd like to point out that trivial/non-trivial is highly subjective. Is making an app to connect in Bluetooth to an infrared camera trivial? Is making a 55Gib fizzbuzz non-trivial?
- mattkrause 3y ago
  The specs for speedy FizzBuzz are relatively clear, even if the implementation is challenging. For the camera, there are tons of unspecified behaviors and baked-in assumptions. Is the user configuring the camera, or are we discovering any/all cameras of a certain type? Authentication? What should happen when the connection fails? What if the bandwidth isn’t sufficient (e.g., due to distance or congestion) to deliver the full take from the camera in realtime? How will camera malfunctions be detected, handled, and reported? A hobby project or prototype can ignore most of this, and insist that you turn it off-and-on if anything looks odd; a fancy turnkey security system should carefully consider all of this and more!

No plan survives contact with reality.

To support our next-gen machine learning system, we need a 10 exabyte storage array. It should host a system accessible over TCP/IP or Infiniband that can stream random-access 1MB blocks of data to 65,536 different computers, at continuous loads of 64 GB/second each computer, using a protocol of your choice or design. Correct for all data corruption and do not lose a single bit during the next 1,000 years of operation. Yes, we can add more specs but these alone should be pretty daunting.

ubercore 3y ago
There are money, operations, and delivery time requirements, just off the top of my head, not expressed in that requirement that vastly changes the solution.
- DevFem666 3y ago
  And the client is all over you/the company.
dylan604 3y ago
What does this have to do with building software? This is something submitted on a form for hardware for a capex
- sclarisse 3y ago
  If you think you’re gonna organize that many bits and not lose them for centuries at a time, you’re seriously underestimating the need for data replication and error correction algorithms, first of all.
  - dylan604 3y ago
    Again, that's a hardware storage solution's problem. Adjust the parity level in the filesystem. Unless you're writing the requirements for building the software for a storage platform.
    - sclarisse 3y ago
      … yes, that is in fact the point

whynotmaybe 3y ago

As a usual bore, I'd like to point out that trivial/non-trivial is highly subjective. Is making an app to connect in Bluetooth to an infrared camera trivial? Is making a 55Gib fizzbuzz non-trivial?

mattkrause 3y ago
The specs for speedy FizzBuzz are relatively clear, even if the implementation is challenging. For the camera, there are tons of unspecified behaviors and baked-in assumptions. Is the user configuring the camera, or are we discovering any/all cameras of a certain type? Authentication? What should happen when the connection fails? What if the bandwidth isn’t sufficient (e.g., due to distance or congestion) to deliver the full take from the camera in realtime? How will camera malfunctions be detected, handled, and reported? A hobby project or prototype can ignore most of this, and insist that you turn it off-and-on if anything looks odd; a fancy turnkey security system should carefully consider all of this and more!