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3.1 KiB
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19 lines
3.1 KiB
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Zero-One-Infinity Rule</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../Z.html" title="Z"/><link rel="previous" href="zero-content.html" title="zero-content"/><link rel="next" href="zeroth.html" title="zeroth"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Zero-One-Infinity Rule</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="zero-content.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Z</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="zeroth.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="Zero-One-Infinity-Rule"/><dt xmlns="" id="Zero-One-Infinity-Rule"><b>Zero-One-Infinity Rule</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">prov.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> “<span class="quote">Allow none of <a href="../F/foo.html"><i class="glossterm">foo</i></a>, one of
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<a href="../F/foo.html"><i class="glossterm">foo</i></a>, or any number of
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<a href="../F/foo.html"><i class="glossterm">foo</i></a>.</span>” A rule of thumb for software design,
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which instructs one to not place <a href="../R/random.html"><i class="glossterm">random</i></a> limits on
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the number of instances of a given entity (such as: windows in a window
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system, letters in an OS's filenames, etc.). Specifically, one should
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either disallow the entity entirely, allow exactly one instance (an
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“<span class="quote">exception</span>”), or allow as many as the user wants —
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address space and memory permitting.</p><p>The logic behind this rule is that there are often situations where
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it makes clear sense to allow one of something instead of none. However,
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if one decides to go further and allow N (for N > 1), then why not N+1?
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And if N+1, then why not N+2, and so on? Once above 1, there's no excuse
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not to allow any N; hence, <a href="../I/infinity.html"><i class="glossterm">infinity</i></a>.</p><p>Many hackers recall in this connection Isaac Asimov's SF novel
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<i class="citetitle">The Gods Themselves</i> in which a character announces
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that the number 2 is impossible — if you're going to believe in more than
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one universe, you might as well believe in an infinite number of
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them.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="zero-content.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../Z.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="zeroth.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">zero-content </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> zeroth</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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