The impact of time on systems due to functional change

One of the most difficult things to do when designing systems is to consider time. After all, it is already hard to picture how something complex should look at a given moment. Taking time into account requires an additional depth of thought, which can make this difficult. Moreover, time variations happen in every aspect as the system evolves, but it should also take into account time in its functioning, just like another variable.

A bit of fun with ill-placed comparisons

Here are a few sentences you may have heard in your everyday life concerning industries other than computers:

• The repairman changed my car engine this weekend; it is now ready for another 10 years
• I took generic pills instead of the commercial brand: they are less expensive and I did not notice any difference
• Since we started regularly maintaining the furnace, we haven’t had any failures during the winter
• The dimensions of the...