second-system effect n.
(sometimes, more euphoniously,
`second-system syndrome') When one is designing the successor to
a relatively small, elegant, and successful system, there is a
tendency to become grandiose in one's success and design an
elephantine feature-laden monstrosity. The term was first
used by Fred Brooks in his classic "The Mythical Man-Month:
Essays on Software Engineering" (Addison-Wesley, 1975; ISBN
0-201-00650-2). It described the jump from a set of nice, simple
operating systems on the IBM 70xx series to OS/360 on the 360
series. A similar effect can also happen in an evolving system;
see Brooks's Law, creeping elegance,
This version of the jargon lexicon has been described (with
altogether too much truth for comfort) as an example of
second-system effect run amok on jargon-1....
(sometimes, more euphoniously,
`second-system syndrome') When one is designing the successor to
a relatively small, elegant, and successful system, there is a
tendency to become grandiose in one's success and design an
elephantine feature-laden monstrosity. The term was first
used by Fred Brooks in his classic "The Mythical Man-Month:
Essays on Software Engineering" (Addison-Wesley, 1975; ISBN
0-201-00650-2). It described the jump from a set of nice, simple
operating systems on the IBM 70xx series to OS/360 on the 360
series. A similar effect can also happen in an evolving system;
see Brooks's Law, creeping elegance,
This version of the jargon lexicon has been described (with
altogether too much truth for comfort) as an example of
second-system effect run amok on jargon-1....
Related:
- second-system effect n.
(sometimes, more euphoniously,
`second-system syndrome') When one is designing the... - Brooks's Law prov.
"Adding manpower to a late software
project makes it later" -
a result of the fact that the expected advantage... - Brooks's Law: prov. "Adding manpower to a late software project
makes it later" -
a result of the fact that the expected advantage... - creeping featurism: /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ n. 1. Describes a
systematic tendency to load more {chrome} and {feature}s onto
systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed
when originally designed.
See also {feeping creaturism}. "You know, the main... - creeping featurism /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ n.
[common] 1.
Describes a systematic tendency to load more chrome... - creeping elegance: n. Describes a tendency for parts of a design
to become {elegant} past the point of diminishing return,
something which often happens at the expense of the... - elephantine adj.
Used of programs or systems that are both
conspicuous hogs (owing perhaps to poor design founded on
brute force and ignorance) and exceedingly hairy
monstrosity.
See also second-system effect and baroque... - Second-system
effect... - An architect's first work is apt to be spare and clean.
He knows he doesn't know what he's doing, so he does...
From the same category:
- macrology /mak-rol'*-jee/ n.
1. Set of usually complex or
crufty macros,
e.g., as part of a large system written in LISP... - Death Star n.
[from the movie "Star Wars"] 1. The
AT&T corporate logo,
which appears on computers sold by AT&T and ... - PDP-10 n.
[Programmed Data Processor model 10] The
machine that made timesharing real.
It looms large in hacker folklore because of its... - proprietary adj.
1. In marketroid-speak, superior;
implies a product imbued with exclusive magic by the... - copyleft /kop'ee-left/ n.
[play on `copyright'] 1.
The copyright notice (`General Public License')...
