Small matter of programming

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Small Matter of Programming (SMOP) was among the "games" described, in a magazine article entitled "Big-System Games Programmers Play", as parallelling the Games People Play identified by Dr. Eric Berne in the field of self-help psychology. The game essentially consists of proposing seemingly simple adjustments to a design, and leaving to someone else the problem of fitting the unexpected consequences into the schedule.

The implication of using it is either

  • to remind one's colleagues that every design change seems like a small matter of programming, until implementation starts, or
  • to reassert by irony one's awareness of the danger of underestimating required effort.