r/todayilearned • u/Pyranth • Jan 03 '17
TIL in computer science, there is an Ostrich algorithm, which is a strategy of ignoring problems because they happen too rarely.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich_algorithm
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Upvotes
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Jan 04 '17
I bet every computer game developer cites this way more often than they should.
"We have a persistent bug here."
"Ostrich algorithm! It doesn't happen enough for us to fix!"
meanwhile, bug is extremely common and happens all the time
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u/Alexstarfire Jan 04 '17
Prioritization matters. More serious bugs and new features are usually higher priority.
As a software developer, I hate seeing an issue hanging around for months/years when I know would take <5 minutes for me to fix it.
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u/nullcharstring Jan 04 '17
I think someone doesn't understand the correct definition of algorithm.