LAWS OF COMPUTERS by H.Acker

Inside each large program is a small program struggling to get out.

If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in.

There is always one more bug.
Any running program, when running, is obsolete.
If a program is useless, it will have to be documented.
If a program is useful, it will have to be changed.
Any program will expand to fill all available memory.
The value of a program is proportional to the weight of its output.
Program complexity grows until it exceeds the capability of the programmer to maintain it.
Make it possible for programmers to write in English and you will have to find out what programmers can't write in English.

If a test installation functions perfectly, all subsequent systems will malfunction.
Not until a program has been in production for at least six months will the most harmful error will be discovered.
Job control cards that cannot be arranged in improper order will be.
Compatible devices aren't.
If the input editor has been designed to reject all bad input, an ingenious idiot will discover a method to get bad data past it.
Machines work, people should think.

A carelessly planned project takes three times longer to complete than expected, a carefully planned project will take only twice as long.
The effort required to correct the error increases geometrically with time.
No good deed goes unpunished.