Wisdom by Gilb
14 pieces of wisdom
“Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable.”
“Any system that depends upon human reliability is unreliable.”
“Undetectable errors are infinite in variety, in contrast to detectable errors, which by definition are limited.”
“Investment in reliability will increase until it exceeds the probable cost of errors, or until someone insists on getting some useful work done.”
“Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable.”
“At the source of every error which is blamed on the computer you will find at least two human errors, including the error of blaming it on the computer.”
“Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.”
“The only difference between the fool and the criminal who attacks a system is that the fool attacks unpredictably and on a broader front.”
“A system tends to grow in terms of complexity rather than of simplification, until the resulting unreliability becomes intolerable.”
“Self-checking systems tend to have a complexity in proportion to the inherent unreliability of the system in which they are used.”
“The error-detection and correction capabilities of any system will serve as the key to understanding the type of errors which they cannot handle.”
“Undetectable errors are infinite in variety, in contrast to detectable errors, which by definition are limited.”
“All real programs contain errors until proved otherwise -- which is impossible.”
“Investment in reliability will increase until it exceeds the probable cost of errors, or somebody insists on getting some useful work done.”