Posted on 12/13/2013 11:24:18 AM PST by SES1066
Murphy's Laws of Computer Programming
1. Any given program, when running, is obsolete.
2. If a program is useless, it will have to be documented.
3. If a program is useful, it will have to be changed.
4. Any non-trivial program contains at least one bug.
5. Any program will expand to fill all available memory.
6. The value of a program is directly proportional to the weight of its output.
7. The complexity of a program will grow 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 that programmers cannot write in English.
9. If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
10. Inside every small program is a large program struggling to get out.
11. If a test installation functions perfectly, all subsequent systems will malfunction.
12. Not until a program has been in production for at least six months will its most harmful error be discovered.
13. Undetectable errors are infinite in variety, in contrast to detectable errors, which are by definition limited.
14. 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.
15. Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it.
16. Machines work; people should think.
17. A carelessly planned project takes three times longer to complete than expected; a carefully planned project will take only twice as long.
18. Adding manpower to a late project makes it later.
19. The effort required to correct an error increases geometrically with time.
20. Only ten percent of the code in any given program will ever be executed.
Still all too many of these axioms have proven all too true here. I think that most of you, my fellow FReepers would agree that #19 actually describes the entire Obamacare law and effort!
This has been proven true in a research paper. As you add more manpower to a project, it slows the progress on the project due to other programmers having to bring the new programmers up to speed.
All of the above is completely true. But they forgot at least one. If it can fail it will—and at the worst possible time.
Programmers try to pass off bugs as undocumented features. Therefore, bugs must simply be documented features.
Actually, the one that should scare all concerned is #12. As a recovering programmer, my best tool was to code constraint rules at the beginning to filter the data. Even so, the time bomb is a very real danger and right now I think it may be in the data security area, but that is a guess OBVIOUSLY!
"Every Software Support Engineer should have the heart of a code writer... In a jar on his desk."
Gall’s Law is pretty good as well: no complex system designed from scratch will ever work. No amount of patching will ever make it work. The only complex systems that work are those that started as simple systems and were grown.
Having worked in IT Security, I can tell you what I’ve been telling everyone who will listen: do NOT use the Obamacare website and do NOT sign up for it over the phone or by mail. EVERYTHING is being input into this site, and regardless if you’re behind a government firewall or outside, the code in the website is not secure and your personal data is at risk.
A funny aside: several organizations have listed healthcare.gov as “code black” for a 0-day attack, meaning a security breach is imminent. I’ve heard anecdotally from people who are paid to be “in the know” that there are actually lines in Vegas on the date.
If (when) they do have the massive security breach, do you think they will a) publicize it (and thus admit final, total failure of their grand scheme), or b) just let several million hapless citizens find out on their own that they are the victims of identity theft? My Vegas bet would be on “option b”.
“If you like your identity, you can keep your identity. Pinky swear!!” - B.H.O.
All complex systems metasticize; those that work after any length of time are complete anomalies.
That is the funniest thing I've read all day. It's also as true as the day is long.
Variables won’t; constants aren’t.
They will not publicize it, and I would guess that they will try to silence anyone who speaks up initially. Odds are that most people affected will not have much in the way of assets since they’re struggling enough to sign up for Obamacare. As a result, the “losses” won’t be outrageous at first. When your first high-dollar figure is affected, there will be a call for answers.
I’m still flummoxed that Sibelius has a job. She’s patently incompetent.
“Variables won’t; constants aren’t.”
Functional programming addresses this by dispensing with variables.
Murphy was misquoted.
I assert the same thing. I will personally put 'skin in the game' on my assertion: No level of fine, no level of criminal prosecution, will EVER get me to sign up on this FusterClick of a website.
If they fine me, I will not pay, but if they manage to seize my money somehow anyways, then I will take comfort in the fact that it is better to lose some of your money to the US Government, than it is to lose ALL of it to a Pakistani hacker.
If they criminally prosecute me, I will flee the country and apply for shelter under the Political Asylum clauses most countries have.
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