Murphys-Laws-and-Other-Observations

Murphy'sLawsandOtherObservationsMurphy'sLaws1.Ifanythingcangowrong,itwill.2.Ifthereisapossibilityofseveralthingsgoingwrong,theonethatwillcausethemostdamagewillbethefirstonetogowrong.3.Ifanythingjustcannotgowrong,itwillanyway.4.Ifyouperceivethattherearefourpossiblewaysinwhichsomethingcangowrong,andcircumventthese,thenafifthway,unpreparedfor,willpromptlydevelop.5.Lefttothemselves,thingstendtogofrombadtoworse.6.Ifeverythingseemstobegoingwell,youhaveobviouslyoverlookedsomething.7.Naturealwayssideswiththehiddenflaw.8.Mothernatureisabitch.O'Toole'sCommentaryonMurphy'sLawsMurphywasanoptimist.Ginsberg'sTheorems1.Youcan'twin.2.Youcan'tbreakeven.3.Youcan'tevenquitthegame.Forsyth'sSecondCorollarytoMurphy'sLawsJustwhenyouseethelightattheendofthetunnel,theroofcavesin.Weiler'sLawNothingisimpossibleforthemanwhodoesn'thavetodoithimself.TheLawsofComputerProgramming1.Anygivenprogram,whenrunning,isobsolete.2.Anygivenprogramcostsmoreandtakeslongereachtimeitisrun.3.Ifaprogramisuseful,itwillhavetobechanged.4.Ifaprogramisuseless,itwillhavetobedocumented.5.Anygivenprogramwillexpandtofillalltheavailablememory.6.Thevalueofaprogramisinverselyproportionaltotheweightofitsoutput.7.Programcomplexitygrowsuntilitexceedsthecapabilityoftheprogrammerwhomustmaintainit.Pierce'sLawInanycomputersystem,themachinewillalwaysmisinterpret,misconstrue,misprint,ornotevaluateanymathorsubroutinesorfailtoprintanyoutputonatleastthefirstrunthrough.CorollarytoPierce'sLawWhenacompileracceptsaprogramwithouterroronthefirstrun,theprogramwillnotyieldthedesiredoutput.AdditiontoMurphy'sLawsInnature,nothingiseverright.Therefore,ifeverythingisgoingright...somethingiswrong.Brook'sLawIfatfirstyoudon'tsucceed,transformyourdataset!Grosch'sLawComputingpowerincreasesasthesquareofthecost.Golub'sLawsofComputerdom1.Fuzzyprojectobjectivesareusedtoavoidembarrassmentofestimatingthecorrespondingcosts.2.Acarelesslyplannedprojecttakesthreetimeslongertocompletethanexpected;acarefullyplannedprojecttakesonlytwiceaslong.3.Theeffortrequiredtocorrectcourseincreasesgeometricallywithtime.4.Projectteamsdetestweeklyprogressreportingbecauseitsovividlymanifeststheirlackofprogress.Osborn'sLawVariableswon't;constantsaren't.Gilb'sLawsofUnreliability1.Computersareunreliable,buthumansareevenmoreunreliable.2.Anysystemthatdependsuponhumanreliabilityisunreliable.3.Undetectableerrorsareinfiniteinvariety,incontrasttodetectableerrors,whichbydefinitionarelimited.4.Investmentinreliabilitywillincreaseuntilitexceedstheprobablecostoferrors,oruntilsomeoneinsistsongettingsomeusefulworkdone.Lubarsky'sLawofCyberneticEntomologyThere'salwaysonemorebug.Troutman'sPostulate1.Profanityistheonelanguageunderstoodbyallprogrammers.2.Notuntilaprogramhasbeeninproductionforsixmonthswillthemostharmfulerrorbediscovered.3.Jobcontrolcardsthatpositivelycannotbearrangedinimproperorderwillbe.4.Interchangeabletapeswon't.5.Iftheinputeditorhasbeendesignedtorejectallbadinput,aningeniousidiotwilldiscoveramethodtogetbaddatapastit.6.Ifatestinstallationfunctionsperfectly,allsubsequentsystemswillmalfunction.Weinberg'sSecondLawIfbuildersbuiltbuildingsthewayprogrammerswroteprograms,thenthefirstwoodpeckerthatcamealongwoulddestroycivilization.Gumperson'sLawTheprobabilityofanythinghappeningisininverseratiotoitsdesirability.Gummidge'sLawTheamountofexpertisevariesininverseratiotothenumberofstatementsunderstoodbythegeneralpublic.Zymurgy'sFirstLawofEvolvingSystemDynamicsOnceyouopenacanofworms,theonlywaytorecanthemistousealargercan(oldwormsneverdie,theyjustwormtheirwayintolargercans).Harvard'sLaw,asAppliedtoComputersUnderthemostrigorouslycontrolledconditionsofpressure,temperature,volume,humidityandothervariables,thecomputerwilldoasitdamnwellpleases.Sattinger'sLawItworksbetterifyouplugitin.Jenkinson'sLawItwon'twork.Horner'sFiveThumbPostulateExperiencevariesdirectlywithequipmentruined.Cheop'sLawNothingevergetsbuildonscheduleorwithinbudget.RuleofAccuracyWhenworkingtowardthesolutionofaproblem,italwayshelpsifyouknowtheanswer.Zymurg'sSeventhExceptiontoMurphy'sLawWhenitrains,itpours.Pudder'sLaws1.Anythingthatbeginswellendsbadly.2.Anythingthatbeginsbadlyendsworse.Westheimer'sRuleToestimatethetimeittakestodoatask:estimatethetimeyouthinkitshouldtake,multiplybytwoandchangetheunitofmeasuretothenexthighestunit.Thus,weallocatetwodaysforaonehourtask.Stockmayer'sTheoremIfitlookseasy,it'stough.Ifitlookstough,it'sdamnnearimpossible.AtwoodsCorollaryNobooksarelostbylendingexceptthoseyouparticularlywantedtokeep.Johnson'sThirdLawIfyoumissoneissueofanymagazine,itwillbetheissuethatcontainsthearticle,storyorinstallmentyouweremostanxioustoread.CorollarytoJohnson'sThirdLawAllofyourfriendseithermissedit,lostitorthrewitout.Harper'sMagazineLawYouneverfindthearticleuntilyoureplaceit.Brooke'sLawAddingmanpowertoalatesoftwaremakesitlater.Finagle'sFourthLawOnceajobisfooledup,anythingdonetoimproveitwillonlymakeitworse.Featherkile'sRuleWhateveryoudid,that'swhatyouplanned.Flap'sLawAnyinanimateobject,regardlessofitsposition,configurationorpurpose,maybeexpectedtoperformatanytimeinatotallyune