dwmkerr/hacker-laws
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🧠 Laws, Theories, Principles and Patterns for developers and technologists.
58 mentions on Hacker News by 28 people: 36 stories, 22 comments · first 2019-05-14 · latest 2026-07-30
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I know that as Kernighan's Law. Seems to be something that seniors learn over time. https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#kernighans-law "Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you're…
comment by jpollock · 2026-07-30 · in Logic for Programmers -
Is it not the same as https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws ?
comment by vpol · 2026-04-21 · in Laws of Software Engineering -
…as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it. -- Brian Kernighan https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#kernighans-law
comment by ethbr1 · 2025-04-09 · in An Overwhelmingly Negative and Demoralizing Force -
Tracking now https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/issues/448
comment by dwmkerr · 2025-03-31 · in Hacker Laws -
on this list to go in: https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/issues/446
comment by dwmkerr · 2025-03-31 · in Hacker Laws -
In case somebody comes looking for the working link: https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/releases/download/v0....
comment by carlesfe · 2025-03-30 · in Hacker Laws -
To the author: "Download the PDF eBook" link https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/releases/download/v0.... is broken
comment by bookofjoe · 2025-03-30 · in Hacker Laws -
Link directly to Kernighan’s law in the repo: https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#kernighans-law
comment by Willingham · 2025-02-15 · in Kernighan's Law: You are not smart enough to debug(2020) -
Also see https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws?tab=readme-ov-file#th...
comment by shakesbeard · 2024-02-25 · in Institutions try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution -
…those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand. https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#putts-law The underlying reason for Putt's law is the finite space of the human cranium and finite hours…
comment by yshrestha · 2022-09-27 · in A CTO should be technical -
This is great, thank you! For reference (and for other great laws): https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#goodharts-law
comment by brad0 · 2022-08-22 · in Is losing weight an important health goal? -
…the world a little better during this time here. "Always leave the code better than you found it." https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#the-scout-rule Please let's not derail this conversation into religious debate here. I love talking…
comment by peterburkimsher · 2022-05-16 · in How I Started to See Trees as Smart -
Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1172/ Googling the xkcd also led me to this: https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/
comment by throwamon · 2022-02-05 · in The Infinite Loop That Wasn't (2020) -
…to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer. https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#cunninghams-law Culture list from https://github.com/peterburk/sortlikes based on a manual…
comment by peterburkimsher · 2022-01-10 · in UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows -
…to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer." https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#cunninghams-law If that is so, then is it possible to generate UV-C light with a wavelength of 100 nm?
comment by peterburkimsher · 2022-01-03 · in Evidence for a mouse origin of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant -
…you go. Always leave the code (and world) better than you found it. (Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob)) https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#the-scout-rule
comment by peterburkimsher · 2022-01-03 · in Evidence for a mouse origin of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant -
…"The Elements of Programming Style", where it was worded the way it's quoted in the article. [1]: < https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#kernighans-law >
comment by yakubin · 2021-03-25 · in Programming quotes -
…this isn't the canonical source, then improve the list by submitting issues and/or pull-requests! - https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws
comment by smoyer · 2020-09-25 · in Ask HN: What Are the Laws of Software? -
…you allowed a client you don’t own to depend on behavior you didn’t specify. (See Hyrum’s Law: https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#hyrums-law-the-law-of... ). By limiting the scope of unspecified behaviors, you also limit the scope of…
comment by dathanb82 · 2020-09-08 · in URL query parameters and how laxness creates de facto requirements on the web -
Url changed from https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#the-dead-sea-effect , which points to this. Please follow the site guidelines. Note this one: " Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another…
comment by dang · 2020-05-13 · in The Wetware Crisis: the Dead Sea effect (2008) -
This one is amazing: https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#kernighans-law > Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart…
comment by seph-reed · 2020-05-13 · in The Wetware Crisis: the Dead Sea effect (2008) -
Here is the direct url to the "Dead Sea Effect": https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws/blob/master/README.md...
comment by jb775 · 2020-05-13 · in The Wetware Crisis: the Dead Sea effect (2008)