Hofstadter's Law An Idea by Douglas Hofstadter en.wikipedia.org It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law. On the "Building" of Software and WebsitesDeadlines are bullshitParkinson's Law recursionself-referenceplanningtime
109. Long Thin House Problem The shape of a building has a great effect on the relative degrees of privacy and overcrowding in it, and this in turn has a critical effect on people’s comfort and well-being. Solution In small buildings, don’t cluster all the rooms together around each other; instead string out the rooms one after another, so that distance between each room is as great as it can be. You can do this horizontally—so that the plan becomes a thin, long rectangle; or you can do it vertically—so that the building becomes a tall narrow tower. In either case, the building can be surprisingly narrow and still work—8, 10, and 12 feet are all quite possible. Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein & Sara Ishikawa, A Pattern Language Einmal Ist KeinmalThe linear city