JargonFile/entries/banana problem.txt
2014-04-26 15:52:28 +01:00

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banana problem
n. [from the story of the little girl who said I know how to spell banana , but I don't know when to stop ]. Not knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare fencepost error ). One may say there is a banana problem of an algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect termination conditions, or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing to featuritis (see also creeping elegance , creeping featuritis ). See item 176 under HAKMEM , which describes a banana problem in a Dissociated Press implementation. Also, see one-banana problem for a superficially similar but unrelated usage.