KISS principle
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The KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle is a process and design principle advising simplicity as a main goal and asset. Over the years, various expansions of the acronym "KISS" have been used and uncertainty exists about which of them, if any, was the original one.
The concept has a direct analogy with the Occam's razor and with Albert Einstein's maxim that "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler".
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[edit] Etymology
The acronym "KISS" is known to have been in use during the Apollo project in the 1960s[citation needed]. Earlier etymology of the expression is uncertain. There are several theories as to its origin:
- used as a piece of advice from lawyers counseling their clients;
- invented in the U.S. Army as army slang;
- invented at the Lockheed Skunk Works facility.
- One of Einstein basic sayings: "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."
[edit] Application
When dealing with a problem, there exists a frequent tendency toward complication that can lead toward solutions that are far more burdensome than the problem, or clever solutions that don't handle unusual cases within that problem domain. (As an example of the former, see instruction creep; for an extreme example, see the Rube Goldberg machine.) In keeping with such problem solvers, Systems Analysts in times gone by were defined to be those persons who could complicate a simple problem beyond all recognition.
The KISS principle is a suggestion to avoid both. According to KISS, the method used should be as simple and straightforward as possible. KISS is simply Occam's Razor applied to engineering.
The story is told of Thomas Edison putting a newly-degreed engineer to the test by asking him to determine the volume of a very irregular vessel. After several hours, the engineer triumphantly produced his calculations, whereupon Edison simply filled the vessel to the brim with water and proceeded to pour the water from the irregular vessel into a graduated container. The engineer was off by almost an order of magnitude.[citation needed]
[edit] Modern usage
The KISS principle today is often used by software developers, meaning the software should be designed in the simplest way, avoiding creeping featurism. More particularly, it is a leading principle in designing critical low-level routines of operating system kernels (at least for Linux), where it suggests to write the code in the most simple and self-explaining manner, to avoid errors (or make it easy to find them). Some suggest that Unix was invented by following the KISS principle.[citation needed]
It is also used in games (to keep game developers from making overly complex games) and story development (to get the message across).
Engineers also use the KISS principle, since the simplest solution is usually the best solution to engineering challenges.
KISS is also one of the principles of system architecture.
The business community commonly uses the KISS principle when encouraging simpler business plans, simpler processes, and lower overhead.
Bill Clinton's campaign team famously used the related expression "It's the economy, stupid!" in his successful 1992 U.S. presidential campaign.
Master animator Richard Williams explains the KISS Principle in his book The Animator's Survival Kit.
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This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.
