Accidental (or incidental) complexity is complexity that arises in computer programs or their development process which is non-essential to the problem to be solved. While essential complexity is inherent and unavoidable, accidental complexity is caused by the approach chosen to solve the problem.
While sometimes accidental complexity can be due to mistakes such as ineffective planning, or low priority placed on a project, some accidental complexity always occurs as the side effect of solving any problem. For example, the complexity caused by out of memory errors is an accidental complexity to most programs that occurs because one decided to use a computer to solve the problem.
While accidental complexity is to be minimized in any good architecture, design, and implementation, excessive accidental complexity is an example of an anti-pattern.
Famous quotes containing the words accidental and/or complexity:
“It is with benefits as with injuries in this respect, that we do not so much weigh the accidental good or evil they do us, as that which they were designed to do us.—That is, we consider no part of them so much as their intention.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“It is not only their own need to mother that takes some women by surprise; there is also the shock of discovering the complexity of alternative child-care arrangements that have been made to sound so simple. Those for whom the intended solution is equal parenting have found that some parents are more equal than others.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)