Re:The Next 50 Years of Databases (2015)
by davnicwil on Tuesday November 12, 2019 @11:07AM
(#21515158)
Ah yes you're right, I completely missed that and that's true. I was thinking about it more from the point of view of not mixing specifying output with implicit instructions on how to reach it (for example, don't say you want to order an array and then pick the last number, just say you want to pick the greatest number from the array) - but that's only assuming you actually are precise about what outcome you want and don't ask for anything irrelevant, which of course people obviously will do from time to time.
I'm not sure what you mean by the outcome, but you can absolutely over-specify the output you want, and it's a relatively common problem. For example, you could say 'I want a system that prints lines with a saffron-based pigment', when all you wanted was an intense yellow-ish color, and don't care about the exact pigment being used. Or, you could say 'I want a program that let's a user choose red or blue or yellow and then paints a line in that color', when you actually mean the user can choose any color.
I've seen many problems of over-specification when talking high-level details with less technical people. They tend to give details to help explain what they mean, without caring about the specific details; or they use metonimy expecting everyone understands what they mean.