Optimism N. What A Programmer Is Full Of After Fixing The Last Bug And Before Discovering The Next Last Bug.

HomeFortune CookiesJargon File

optimism n.

What a programmer is full of after fixing the
last bug and before discovering the next last bug. Fred
Brooks's book "The Mythical Man-Month" (See "Brooks's
Law") contains the following paragraph that describes this
extremely well:


All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this
modern sorcery especially attracts those who believe in happy
endings and fairy godmothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty
frustrations drive away all but those who habitually focus on the
end goal. Perhaps it is merely that computers are young,
programmers are younger, and the young are always optimists. But
however the selection process works, the result is indisputable:
"This time it will surely run," or "I just found the last bug.".


See also Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology.

Related: