Re: 90/10 rule... source?

Derek M Jones <derek@knosof.co.uk> wrote in message news:04-01-108...
> > Yes and no. I think that the rule is real, but it has been made into
> > a pseudo law of nature, which it isn't.
>
> What is a pseudo law? One that only applies to a small percentage of
> cases?


The 90/10 rule, like many others such as for instance Moore's law, are
statements that are shaped as if they are fact when they need to be
seen more as rule of thumb or useful hints that have enough basis in
reality that they are useful even if they aren't exact.


In this case, it is generally the case that a small part of a program
will turn out to take up a significant part of the execution time of a
program while few isolated parts of the rest of the program takes up
significant amounts of time, and hence the 90/10 rule is propagated
even if the "significant part" sometimes turn out not to be so
significant, or even non-existant.


Vidar

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