Programmers are Lazy Principle (PaLP)

The Programmers are Lazy Principle basically states that programmers do not like to do work. As a consequence, a good programmer will avoid work by creating situations that eliminate the need to repeat work. There are many results that follow from this basic truth. For example, many have noticed that a programmer will spend three days automating a repetitive task that only took him ten minutes to complete per day. Notice though that three days is 1440 work minutes, which is the amount of time that would be spent completing the repetitive task in 144 work days or about 29 work weeks. Assuming the programmer stays at the job for longer than that he will have earned 50 minutes of extra time for each work week following the 29th. That’s 50 minutes a week that could be spent automating some repetitive task, which ultimately would lead to more time.

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