creeping featurism

2 definitions found

creeping featurism - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  creeping featurism
  feature creep
  
     <jargon> /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ (Or "feature creep") A
     systematic tendency to load more chrome and features onto
     systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have
     possessed when originally designed.  "The main problem with
     BSD Unix has always been creeping featurism."
  
     More generally, creeping featurism is the tendency for
     anything to become more complicated because people keep saying
     "Gee, it would be even better if it had this feature too".
     The result is usually a patchwork because it grew one ad-hoc
     step at a time, rather than being planned.  Planning is a lot
     of work, but it's easy to add just one extra little feature to
     help someone, and then another, and another, ....  When
     creeping featurism gets out of hand, it's like a cancer.
  
     Usually this term is used to describe computer programs, but
     it could also be said of the federal government, the IRS 1040
     form, and new cars.  A similar phenomenon sometimes afflicts
     conscious redesigns; see second-system effect.  See also
     creeping elegance.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (1997-08-03)
  

creeping featurism - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  creeping featurism
   /kree'ping fee'chr.izm/, n.
  
     [common]
  
     1. Describes a systematic tendency to load more chrome and
     features onto systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may
     have possessed when originally designed. See also feeping creaturism
     . "You know, the main problem with BSD Unix has always
     been creeping featurism."
  
     2. More generally, the tendency for anything complicated to become
     even more complicated because people keep saying "Gee, it would be
     even better if it had this feature too". (See feature.) The result
     is usually a patchwork because it grew one ad-hoc step at a time,
     rather than being planned. Planning is a lot of work, but it's easy
  to
     add just one extra little feature to help someone ... and then
  another
     ... and another.... When creeping featurism gets out of hand, it's
     like a cancer. The GNU hello program, intended to illustrate GNU
     command-line switch and coding conventions, is also a wonderful
  parody
     of creeping featurism; the distribution changelog is particularly
     funny. Usually this term is used to describe computer programs, but
  it
     could also be said of the federal government, the IRS 1040 form, and
     new cars. A similar phenomenon sometimes afflicts conscious
  redesigns;
     see second-system effect. See also creeping elegance.