Comments on: The Chernobyl Design Pattern http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html Thinking the unthinkable, pondering the imponderable, effing the ineffable and scruting the inscrutable Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:07:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Alex http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3226 Alex Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:38:06 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3226 Really liked the vibrant description of the Chernobyl Design Pattern. Concerning Microsoft I would just recommend to use Open Source alternatives on the web and for the desktop. No-one actually needs Microsoft Office. Thx for this article! Didn't know about 1900 bugin Excel which doesn't make me feel bad at all ;) . Really liked the vibrant description of the Chernobyl Design Pattern.

Concerning Microsoft I would just recommend to use Open Source alternatives on the web and for the desktop. No-one actually needs Microsoft Office.

Thx for this article! Didn’t know about 1900 bugin Excel which doesn’t make me feel bad at all ;) .

]]> By: PatrickKanne http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3225 PatrickKanne Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:38:08 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3225 @Andres : that's just a way to prevent us from lingering on the past too much ;) @johnatan/rob: interesting take on this issue, so, to summarise: Microsoft decided to incorporate a 3d party bug into their software as intentional design. I'm not surprised. I know Microsoft will go through some lengths to keep their corporate consumer base happy (which ecplipses the home-user and gamer base combined). See the atrocities they commit in their browsers to keep a semblance of backwards compatability based on IE6 intranet requirtements. It's a strange poisiont they're in. On the one end they need to be innovative on a competitive level, on the other end their largest userbase resides there where upgrading IT-infrastructure is regarded with suspicion and fear (and severe budget consequences). I think MS should indeed take this chernobyl design pattern to heart, it could serve them well in keeping both those sides from tearing them in two.. @Andres : that’s just a way to prevent us from lingering on the past too much ;)

@johnatan/rob: interesting take on this issue, so, to summarise: Microsoft decided to incorporate a 3d party bug into their software as intentional design. I’m not surprised.
I know Microsoft will go through some lengths to keep their corporate consumer base happy (which ecplipses the home-user and gamer base combined). See the atrocities they commit in their browsers to keep a semblance of backwards compatability based on IE6 intranet requirtements. It’s a strange poisiont they’re in. On the one end they need to be innovative on a competitive level, on the other end their largest userbase resides there where upgrading IT-infrastructure is regarded with suspicion and fear (and severe budget consequences).

I think MS should indeed take this chernobyl design pattern to heart, it could serve them well in keeping both those sides from tearing them in two..

]]> By: Khainestar http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3223 Khainestar Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:12:48 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3223 I find it amazing that MS thinks that this is acceptable. If someone came to me with the idea of making a bug and something quite clearly wrong as a standard I would laugh in their face. Bugs need fixing, or containing. To say it is to fix a bug in lotus 1-2-3 is a bigger joke. MS has a bug, to fix a bug in someone elses software. Reject it. Don't work around it. Then they have to fix their bug and not pass responsibility on to someone else. I find it amazing that MS thinks that this is acceptable. If someone came to me with the idea of making a bug and something quite clearly wrong as a standard I would laugh in their face. Bugs need fixing, or containing. To say it is to fix a bug in lotus 1-2-3 is a bigger joke. MS has a bug, to fix a bug in someone elses software. Reject it. Don’t work around it. Then they have to fix their bug and not pass responsibility on to someone else.

]]> By: Alex http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3222 Alex Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:09:08 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-3222 @VMZ That's great! Haha. I too also like the name 'Chernobyl Design Pattern'. It might just catch on! @VMZ
That’s great! Haha.

I too also like the name ‘Chernobyl Design Pattern’. It might just catch on!

]]> By: VMZ http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-1025 VMZ Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:45:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-1025 How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb ?<br/><br/>None, they wait for one year and then propose darkness to be the new standard. How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb ?

None, they wait for one year and then propose darkness to be the new standard.

]]> By: Andres http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-868 Andres Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-868 Isn't the more serious problem the fact that you can't use a date before 1900 within a formula? It's pretty bad to include a bug in the spec, but to make it impossible to use dates before that date, but allow dates up to 9999 seems strange at the least.... Isn’t the more serious problem the fact that you can’t use a date before 1900 within a formula? It’s pretty bad to include a bug in the spec, but to make it impossible to use dates before that date, but allow dates up to 9999 seems strange at the least….

]]> By: Asbjorn http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-848 Asbjorn Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:05:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-848 Whatever happened to the wonderful idea of patching broken code ?<br/><br/>And why Microsoft believes that all these legacy artefacts must be included in a 'new' format is beyond me. It ought to be the task of the converter to handle these idiosyncrasies in the first place. Old versions of the MS Office package can't read OOXML anyway. Whatever happened to the wonderful idea of patching broken code ?

And why Microsoft believes that all these legacy artefacts must be included in a ‘new’ format is beyond me. It ought to be the task of the converter to handle these idiosyncrasies in the first place. Old versions of the MS Office package can’t read OOXML anyway.

]]> By: Miguel A. Pérez http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-365 Miguel A. Pérez Thu, 25 Jan 2007 19:58:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-365 Why maintain that buggy behavior? <br /><br />They can simply put a workaround in their new office suit so when loading or storing a document in a older format the date is set correctly for that version.<br /><br />Maybe the people in charge of that kind of decisions aren't aware of this. Why maintain that buggy behavior?

They can simply put a workaround in their new office suit so when loading or storing a document in a older format the date is set correctly for that version.

Maybe the people in charge of that kind of decisions aren’t aware of this.

]]> By: Rob http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-322 Rob Fri, 19 Jan 2007 23:27:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-322 Jonathan, type =WEEKDAY("1/1/1900") into Excel. What do you get? It returns 1, meaning Sunday. Now look at any reputable calendar created since Pope Gregory XIII. What day of the week was January 1st, 1900? The correct answer is Monday. So yes, Excel has a bug, and yes Microsoft has pushed to include this bug in an International Standard. To say this is not a bug is pure denial. Jonathan, type =WEEKDAY(“1/1/1900″) into Excel. What do you get? It returns 1, meaning Sunday. Now look at any reputable calendar created since Pope Gregory XIII. What day of the week was January 1st, 1900? The correct answer is Monday. So yes, Excel has a bug, and yes Microsoft has pushed to include this bug in an International Standard. To say this is not a bug is pure denial.

]]> By: Jonathan http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-320 Jonathan Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:33:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-320 To be fair, this is not a bug in Excell. It was an intentional design decision to ensure compatbaility with Lotus 1-2-3 files.<br /><br />The goal of this standard is to ensure that an accurate representation of pre-existing documents is possible in a format that non-MS companies can work with. It is not to create an idealized format free of past mistakes.<br /><br />As for the Intel bug, it wasn't backwards compatable with previous versions. To be fair, this is not a bug in Excell. It was an intentional design decision to ensure compatbaility with Lotus 1-2-3 files.

The goal of this standard is to ensure that an accurate representation of pre-existing documents is possible in a format that non-MS companies can work with. It is not to create an idealized format free of past mistakes.

As for the Intel bug, it wasn’t backwards compatable with previous versions.

]]> By: Cristian http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-319 Cristian Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:55:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-319 Due to problems like this, the standard will not be accepted by the software community and Microsoft will fail again. It is what it deserves for doing such things. Due to problems like this, the standard will not be accepted by the software community and Microsoft will fail again. It is what it deserves for doing such things.

]]> By: WebWeasel http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-317 WebWeasel Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:26:00 +0000 http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/the-chernobyl-design-pattern.html#comment-317 I really like the term "Chernobyl Design Pattern". I've done exactly that quite a few times to hide ugly unmanageable code. It's the perfect name for it and deserves to be in the Jargon File. I really like the term “Chernobyl Design Pattern”. I’ve done exactly that quite a few times to hide ugly unmanageable code. It’s the perfect name for it and deserves to be in the Jargon File.

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