View source for MIT approach to design and implementation

Always keep these in mind when developing software.

* '''Simplicity:''' the design must be simple, both in implementation and interface.  It is more important for the interface to be simple than that the implementation be simple.
* '''Correctness:''' the design must be correct in all observable aspects.  Incorrectness is simply not allowed.
* '''Consistency:''' the design must not be inconsistent. A design is allowed to be slightly less simple and less complete to avoid inconsistency.  Consistency is as important as correctness.
* '''Completeness:''' the design must cover as many important situations as is practical.  All reasonably expected cases must be covered.  Simplicity is not allowed to overly reduce completeness.

<span style="font-size:70%;">(extracted from the UNIX-HATERS Handbook)</span>

== See also ==
*[[CodingGuidelines|Xiph's Coding Guidelines]]