The Last 5%
An old saying is it takes 5% of the time to complete 95% of a software project, and 95% of the time to finish that last 5%. True or false?
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Good gosh that’s so true. It’s easy to knock out major chunks of software but it takes forever to do those last bits that really make a product shine.
There’s a similar ‘rule,’ called ‘Pareto’s Principle.’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle
It’s better known as the 80/20 rule.
Way true.
Why not stop at the 5% that matters?
I’ve yet to work on a software project that was ever actually deemed ‘finished*’!
* Unless by ‘finished’ you mean ‘scrapped’…
Absolutely true!
I’ve never worked on a product that could be considered 100% complete and finished – There is always some slight tweak.
Basically it’s quick to get a proof of concept (or the 80% solution) going… but it takes a bucket load of time to cater for all the boundary conditions.
I thought the saying went like this:
“It takes 95% of the time to finish the first 95% of the program, and the last 5% takes the other 95% of the time.”
Wow. I actually quit as soon as the easy 95% is done and start a new %95 with a different employer and leave that detail stuff up to the poor sons-o-guns who believe in long-term employment.