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From: mash@mips.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Architect's Trap
Message-ID: <13@winchester.mips.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Mar-87 22:27:45 EST
Article-I.D.: winchest.13
Posted: Tue Mar  3 22:27:45 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 6-Mar-87 05:54:55 EST
References: <1400@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM>
Reply-To: mash@winchester.UUCP (John Mashey)
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Sunnyvale, CA
Lines: 28

In article <1400@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM> steves@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Steve Schlesinger) writes:
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
>			Extracted from "What Price Smalltalk?",
>			Dave Ungar and Dave Patterson, UC Berkeley,
>			IEEE Computer, Jan 87
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
>The Architects Trap -
>
>After completing a careful and clean design,
>architects want to improve it with many new ideas.
......
> Comments ?

It's true both hardware and software!  (Of course, any RISC person
would agree with this, but I've seen it many times).  I've used the
plague of "creeping featurism" for years in various software engineering
talks, and people have given me legions of examples of the bad effects.

The only way to fight it is to use rules like:
	a) PROVE that this feature is worth 1% performance.
	b) WHEN IN DOUBT, leave it out.
	c) There is at least one person whose job is to make less of
	whatever you have.  [Like laws: in a 2-body legislature, one
	body's job should be to repeal laws as quickly as possible.]
-- 
-john mashey	DISCLAIMER: <generic disclaimer, I speak for me only, etc>
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