Ask HN: Does the Pareto (80-20) Principle apply to software complexity? Particularly from the point of view of Operating Systems and Web Browsers... For example: Does 80% of the code come from 20% of the functionality? Do 80% of bugs come from 20% of features? Does 80% of software complexity come from 20% of the functionality? |
Definitely 80% of the bugs will come from 20% of the features. 80% of the usability and attraction is also from 20% of the features, but not necessarily the same ones.
Perhaps relatedly, about 70% of all software work is diagnosis and debugging. So a small subset of (maybe not so important) features causes most of the overall work in the project.