“Page’s Law” and Performance
An overriding problem in the software industry is what we’ve always referred to as “feature creep.” Basically it works like this: someone writes a new application that’s fast, works well, and fills a need. So the next version adds extra features (many of which may have been requested by a single customer) and, allegedly, “extra value.” The problem is that in doing so, the software becomes slower.
The effect is even more pronounced if developers have already started work on a new release, then are suddenly told that some snazzy new feature they hadn’t planned for has to be added to it. This messes up the whole development schedule and can wreck the stability of the new product.
I blame upper management. I’ve seen far too many instances where some sales guy walks in and demands a feature that one customer insists on having, and executives say “sure, why not?” without thinking about the global consequences of such a move.
Last week Google’s Sergey Brin put a new moniker on this process: “Page’s Law.” It’s the idea that any piece of software will get twice as slow every 18 months as the result of feature creep, which is why your computer seems to get slower over time.
It’s partly true. One only need look at the performance difference between Office 1998, 2000, 2003, and (worst of all) 2007 to see how feature creep causes applications to slow down. Thing is, that’s not the only cause as nearly any PC technician knows.
PCs slow down for many reasons. Some become infested with spyware. Some users load too many start-up applications, or try to run high end tasks on systems with insufficient memory and CPU. Others end up with badly fragmented disks that kill performance. Users play with their machines’ settings without really knowing what the effect might be. What worked well out of the box may not work once the system is “customized” for the user.
This is why I always suggest buying ahead of the curve — get more than you need in order to future-proof your system to some degree. We all know application sizes will continue to grow over time. Google may be trying to optimize their own services to minimize Page’s Law, but few other companies are that responsible. If you want cutting-edge software, it’ll probably be an unbelievable pig in terms of resource requirements.