For some reason there was a recent pointer to this 6 year post by Matthew Jones on some of the fundamental laws of software development. Most of them will be familiar to Irreal readers but it’s nice to see them listed along with their explanations in one place.
Jones lists 15 laws or principals. They are:
- Occam’s Razor
- Hanlon’s Razor
- The Pareto Principle
- Dunning-Kruger Effect
- Linus’s Law
- Robustness Principle
- Eagleson’s Law
- Peter Principle
- Dilbert Principle
- Hofstadter’s Law
- The 90-90 Rule
- Parkinson’s Law
- Sayre’s Law
- Parkinson’s Law of Triviality
- Law of Argumentative Comprehension
Some of these, like Hanlon’s Razor and the Dilbert Principal, are tongue-in-cheek while others, like The Pareto Principal and the Dunning-Kruger Effect, are serious, a précis of actual research.
Oddly, the most famous law of all, Murphy’s Law, doesn’t make an appearance. As every developer knows, it is always with us and operative. Regardless, the list is amusing and worth taking a look at if you’re searching for a momentary diversion.