Rocket Science Has Been Mythologized All Out

You Can Prematurely Optimize Maintainability, Flexibility, Security, And Robustness Just Like You Can Performance.

The Situation Is So Much Better For Programmers Today - A Cheap Used Pc, A Linux Cd, And An Internet Account, And You Have All The Tools Necessary To Work Your Way To Any Level Of Programming Skill You Want To Shoot For.

The Important Point Is That The Cost Of Adding A Feature Isn't Just The Time It Takes To Code It. The Cost Also Includes The Addition Of An Obstacle To Future Expansion. Sure, Any Given Feature List Can Be Implemented, Given Enough Coding Time. But In Addition To Coming Out Late, You Will Usually Wind Up With A Codebase That Is So Fragile That New Ideas That Should Be Dead-simple Wind Up Taking Longer And Longer To Work Into The Tangled Existing Web. The Trick Is To Pick The Features That Don't Fight Each Other.

The Speed Of Light Sucks.

I'd Rather Have A Search Engine Or A Compiler On A Deserted Island Than A Game.