15 Nov
2017
15 Nov
'17
11:12 p.m.
Hi Noel,
I've often tried to understand why some people
create these incredibly
complicated systems. (Looking at the voluminous LISP Machine manual set from
Symbolics particularly caused this train of thought...) I think it's because
they are too smart - they can remember all that stuff.
But smart people don't have to create complex stuff, see Unix. :-)
Perhaps it's not because these designers of complexity have good recall,
but a mixture of the Brooks's Second-System Effect,
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/second-system-effect.html
and not being constrained.
Constraints of limited computer memory, slow CPU, money, wall-clock
time, manufacturing cost, can all help rein in a design.
--
Cheers, Ralph.
https://plus.google.com/+RalphCorderoy