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Ayende's Observation on the state of software
time to read 1 min | 54 words
Slightly revised with help from Matt Campbell:
The quality of a software system is inversely proportional to the amount of money it handles.
I intentionally call it observation vs. law, because I don't think that there is any inherent reason for it to be this way, that is just the way it is.
Comments
I still think it's "Ayende's Law." ;) To me, it's a "law" in the same sense as Sturgeon's Law ("80% of everything is crud") and a handful of other comp-sci "laws" which are of a "ha-ha-only-serious" nature.
Because most of the organizations that handle a lot of money are big banks, and other FIs. These companies are so big that they'll have many offshoring companies working for them (at least in US), maybe many technologies in use too, and many layers of organizational hierarchies, and one fine day, a few (so-called ;-)) smart guys could have made such rules - "We won't use any open-source projects".
So what else can you expect? Hence, the chances of this 'observation' becoming a 'law' are "very bright".
Handles more money == need for expertise == choose self-proclaimed "smartest guy in the room" == need to prove he's the "smartest guy in the room" == over-engineered == time overrun == sacrifice quality == cry
Repeat as (un)necessary
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