From cedeedf9e76491ff9200e24c2edc70a0636f81f9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jonathan Backhaus Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2019 10:39:59 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Added Cunningham's Law (#149) --- README.md | 19 +++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index b1a4ce6..c00c750 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Laws, Theories, Principles and Patterns that developers will find useful. * [Amdahl's Law](#amdahls-law) * [Brooks' Law](#brooks-law) * [Conway's Law](#conways-law) + * [Cunningham's Law](#cunninghams-law) * [Dunbar's Number](#dunbars-number) * [Gall's Law](#galls-law) * [Hanlon's Razor](#hanlons-razor) @@ -113,6 +114,16 @@ See also: - [The Spotify Model](#the-spotify-model) +### Cunningham's Law + +[Cunningham's Law on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham#Cunningham's_Law) + +According to Steven McGeady, Ward Cunningham advised him in the early 1980s: "The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer." McGeady dubbed this Cunningham's law, though Cunningham denies ownership calling it a "misquote." Although originally referring to interactions on Usenet, the law has been used to describe how other online communities work (e.g., Wikipedia, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook). + +See also: + +- [XKCD 386: "Duty Calls"](https://xkcd.com/386/) + ### Dunbar's Number [Dunbar's Number on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number) @@ -351,12 +362,12 @@ The Spotify Model also popularises the concepts of Tribes, Guilds, Chapters, whi [Wadler's Law on wiki.haskell.org](https://wiki.haskell.org/Wadler's_Law) > In any language design, the total time spent discussing a feature in this list is proportional to two raised to the power of its position. -> +> > 0. Semantics > 1. Syntax > 2. Lexical syntax > 3. Lexical syntax of comments -> +> > (In short, for every hour spent on semantics, 8 hours will be spent on the syntax of comments). Similar to [The Law of Triviality](#the-law-of-triviality), Wadler's Law states what when designing a language, the amount of time spent on language structures is disproportionately high in comparison to the importance of those features. @@ -575,10 +586,10 @@ If you have found these concepts interesting, you may enjoy the following books. - [The Mythical Man Month - Frederick P. Brooks Jr.](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13629.The_Mythical_Man_Month) - A classic volume on software engineering. [Brooks' Law](#brooks-law) is a central theme of the book. - [Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid - Douglas R. Hofstadter.](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24113.G_del_Escher_Bach) - This book is difficult to classify. [Hofstadter's Law](#hofstadters-law) is from the book. - [The Dilbert Principle - Adam Scott](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85574.The_Dilbert_Principle) - A comic look at corporate America, from the author who created the [Dilbert Principle](#the-dilbert-principl). -- [The Peter Principle - Lawrence J. Peter](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/890728.The_Peter_Principle) - Another comic look at the challenges of larger organisations and people management, the source of [The Peter Principle](#the-peter-principle). +- [The Peter Principle - Lawrence J. Peter](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/890728.The_Peter_Principle) - Another comic look at the challenges of larger organisations and people management, the source of [The Peter Principle](#the-peter-principle). ## TODO Hi! If you land here, you've clicked on a link to a topic I've not written up yet, sorry about this - this is work in progress! -Feel free to [Raise an Issue](https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/issues) requesting more details, or [Open a Pull Request](https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/pulls) to submit your proposed definition of the topic. +Feel free to [Raise an Issue](https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/issues) requesting more details, or [Open a Pull Request](https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/pulls) to submit your proposed definition of the topic.