Schlemiel the Painter's algorithm: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:36, 11 May 2008

Revision as of 08:54, 11 May 2008

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Schlemiel got a job painting the white-lines down the middle of the road. On his first day Schlemiel painted 300 yards of road, which is good. On his second day Schlemiel painted 150 yards, which isn't too bad. On the third day Schlemiel painted only 30 yards, which is grounds for dismissal.

The boss called Schlemiel into the office for some counselling. The boss said "Schlemiel, I think you are good worker, so why is that the longer you work the less you get done?". "Well" Schlemiel replied "the further I get from my paintcan tinof topaint the further I have to run to the end of the line, and then all the way back again to replenish my brush." The boss replied "Schlemiel you need to '''take your paint with you!'''"

The principle is childschildishly playsimple, but it is easy too easy to miss this scenario when developingimplementing a complex software product, especially when itthe is obscuredscenario myspans modularitymodules.

== The Problem ==