[SES1066]

Obviously this is as old as programming and the ideas behind it predate it for generations. The old carpenter's rule of "Measure twice and cut once!" is a response to these conditions and probably was said in ancient Greece.

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!

[rarestia]

18. Adding manpower to a late project makes it later.

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.

[Jim Robinson]

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.

[MosesKnows]

many of these axioms have proven all too true

Programmers try to pass off bugs as undocumented features. Therefore, bugs must simply be documented features.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I keep a sign on my desk that has POed a number of people over the years;

"Every Software Support Engineer should have the heart of a code writer... In a jar on his desk."

[tanknetter]

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.

[SoothingDave]

Variables won’t; constants aren’t.

[ctdonath2]

Murphy was misquoted.