Brooks' categorization of constraints

mentalmodel engineering

1. Real constraints
   

2. Obsolete once-real constraints
   

3. Misperceived constraints
   

4. Intentional artificial constraints
   

Real Constraints

Obsolete Once-Real Constraints

• Heed the constrains becoming obsolete with new tech
  

• technology makes many obsolete
  

• experienced designers, like a lion accustomed to pace the confines of its cage, usually continue obeying those much after they're obsolote
  

  • trying to optimize for speed
    

  • tyring to write minimal memory computations
    

  • The Hundred-Year Language.md > computation speed constraint is relaxed, we can design programming languages makes everything string and 100% descriptive (and many other ideas)
    

Misperceived Constraints

• lots of creative comes from realizing that a constraint is an illusion (perceived as constraint by most beacuse of human heuristic thinking, or cognitive biases)
  

• 
  

• 
  

Intentional Artificial Constraints