Data Quote by Eric S. Raymond
“When writing gateway software of any kind, take pains to disturb the data stream as little as possible - and never throw away information unless the recipient forces you to!”
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Cathedral and the Bazaar, 1999
Minimize interference with data flow and preserve information unless forced to discard it.
In simple terms: Keep data streams clean and retain info unless required.
Key Takeaway
Design software that respects data integrity.
Themes
software design
data integrity
efficiency
Mood
pragmatic
analytical
Type
technical
advisory
When to use this quote
- network programming
- embedded systems
- API design
- data pipelines
Key Concepts
information theory
robustness
Questions to Reflect On
- When is it acceptable to discard data?
- How does data disturbance affect system reliability?
A Different Perspective
Sometimes preserving all data can hurt performance or storage constraints.
![“[Brazil] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data sovereignty."” quote by Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/af7/edward-snowden-555_brazil_brazil-went-to-the-un-and-said-we-need-n_14906.jpg)
