Accidental complexity
Encyclopedia
Accidental complexity is complexity that arises in computer program
s or their development process
which is non-essential to the problem to be solved. While essential complexity
is inherent and unavoidable, accidental complexity is caused by the approach chosen to solve the problem.
While sometimes accidental complexity can be due to mistakes such as ineffective planning, or low priority placed on a project, some accidental complexity always occurs as the side effect of solving any problem. For example, the complexity caused by out of memory errors is an accidental complexity to most programs that occurs because one decided to use a computer to solve the problem.
While accidental complexity is to be minimized in any good architecture, design, and implementation, excessive accidental complexity is an example of an anti-pattern
.
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
s or their development process
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
which is non-essential to the problem to be solved. While essential complexity
Essential complexity
Essential complexity refers to a situation where all reasonable solutions to a problem must be complicated because the "simple" solutions would not adequately solve the problem...
is inherent and unavoidable, accidental complexity is caused by the approach chosen to solve the problem.
While sometimes accidental complexity can be due to mistakes such as ineffective planning, or low priority placed on a project, some accidental complexity always occurs as the side effect of solving any problem. For example, the complexity caused by out of memory errors is an accidental complexity to most programs that occurs because one decided to use a computer to solve the problem.
While accidental complexity is to be minimized in any good architecture, design, and implementation, excessive accidental complexity is an example of an anti-pattern
Anti-pattern
In software engineering, an anti-pattern is a pattern that may be commonly used but is ineffective and/or counterproductive in practice.The term was coined in 1995 by Andrew Koenig,...
.