My Toolkit

My Toolkit

Creating software is a difficult task prone to many mistakes. To help navigate this complicated endeavor, over the past years I have collected a broad range of mental models, laws, heuristics, fallacies, biases, principles and thought experiments that I found helpful. Enjoy reading 🙂

Gambler's FallacyGambler's Fallacy
Gambler's Fallacy
Alternative Paths FallacyAlternative Paths Fallacy
Alternative Paths Fallacy
Goodhart’s lawGoodhart’s law
Goodhart’s law
The Interface Segregation PrincipleThe Interface Segregation Principle
The Interface Segregation Principle
Outcome BiasOutcome Bias
Outcome Bias
Fitt’s LawFitt’s Law
Fitt’s Law
Anchor EffectAnchor Effect
Anchor Effect
Dunbar’s NumberDunbar’s Number
Dunbar’s Number
Base-Rate NeglectBase-Rate Neglect
Base-Rate Neglect
Law of SimilarityLaw of Similarity
Law of Similarity
The Scout RuleThe Scout Rule
The Scout Rule
Loss aversionLoss aversion
Loss aversion
Hyperbolic DiscountingHyperbolic Discounting
Hyperbolic Discounting
Brewer’s TheoremBrewer’s Theorem
Brewer’s Theorem
The Law of Conservation of Complexity (Tesler’s Law)The Law of Conservation of Complexity (Tesler’s Law)
The Law of Conservation of Complexity (Tesler’s Law)
YAGNIYAGNI
YAGNI
Metcalfe’s LawMetcalfe’s Law
Metcalfe’s Law
The Dead Sea EffectThe Dead Sea Effect
The Dead Sea Effect
The Single Responsibility PrincipleThe Single Responsibility Principle
The Single Responsibility Principle
Exponential GrowthExponential Growth
Exponential Growth
Murphy’s Law - Sod’s LawMurphy’s Law - Sod’s Law
Murphy’s Law - Sod’s Law
Sunk Cost FallacySunk Cost Fallacy
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Association BiasAssociation Bias
Association Bias
Swimmer’s Body IllusionSwimmer’s Body Illusion
Swimmer’s Body Illusion
Amdahl’s LawAmdahl’s Law
Amdahl’s Law
Linus’s LawLinus’s Law
Linus’s Law
Hindsight BiasHindsight Bias
Hindsight Bias
Doherty ThresholdDoherty Threshold
Doherty Threshold
GroupthinkGroupthink
Groupthink
The Dilbert PrincipleThe Dilbert Principle
The Dilbert Principle
The Law of TrivialityThe Law of Triviality
The Law of Triviality
The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)
The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)
The Unix PhilosophyThe Unix Philosophy
The Unix Philosophy
The Robustness Principle (Postel’s Law)The Robustness Principle (Postel’s Law)
The Robustness Principle (Postel’s Law)
Reed’s LawReed’s Law
Reed’s Law
Regression to the meanRegression to the mean
Regression to the mean
Goal-Gradient Effect Goal-Gradient Effect
Goal-Gradient Effect
Putt’s LawPutt’s Law
Putt’s Law
Law of PrägnanzLaw of Prägnanz
Law of Prägnanz
George Box’s LawGeorge Box’s Law
George Box’s Law
Illusion of ControlIllusion of Control
Illusion of Control
Law of proximityLaw of proximity
Law of proximity
Self-Serving BiasSelf-Serving Bias
Self-Serving Bias
90-9-1 Principle90-9-1 Principle
90-9-1 Principle
Conjunction FallacyConjunction Fallacy
Conjunction Fallacy
Social Proof BiasSocial Proof Bias
Social Proof Bias
The Hype Cycle & Amaras’s LawThe Hype Cycle & Amaras’s Law
The Hype Cycle & Amaras’s Law
Hanlon’s RazorHanlon’s Razor
Hanlon’s Razor
Liking BiasLiking Bias
Liking Bias
Cunningham’s LawCunningham’s Law
Cunningham’s Law
Selection BiasSelection Bias
Selection Bias
The Broken Windows TheoryThe Broken Windows Theory
The Broken Windows Theory
InduktionInduktion
Induktion
Wheaton’s LawWheaton’s Law
Wheaton’s Law
The Law of the InstrumentThe Law of the Instrument
The Law of the Instrument
The Law of Leaky AbstractionsThe Law of Leaky Abstractions
The Law of Leaky Abstractions
The Fallacies of Distributed ComputingThe Fallacies of Distributed Computing
The Fallacies of Distributed Computing
The two Pizza RuleThe two Pizza Rule
The two Pizza Rule
Self-Selection BiasSelf-Selection Bias
Self-Selection Bias
Kernighan’s LawKernighan’s Law
Kernighan’s Law
Hedonic TreadmillHedonic Treadmill
Hedonic Treadmill
Zeigarnik EffectZeigarnik Effect
Zeigarnik Effect
Action BiasAction Bias
Action Bias
Confirmation BiasConfirmation Bias
Confirmation Bias
Overconfidence EffectOverconfidence Effect
Overconfidence Effect
Von Restorff EffectVon Restorff Effect
Von Restorff Effect
Aesthetic usability EffectAesthetic usability Effect
Aesthetic usability Effect
Hick’s Law (Hick-Hyman Law)Hick’s Law (Hick-Hyman Law)
Hick’s Law (Hick-Hyman Law)
Serial Position EffectSerial Position Effect
Serial Position Effect
The KISS PrincipleThe KISS Principle
The KISS Principle
Conway’s LawConway’s Law
Conway’s Law
Hofstadter’s LawHofstadter’s Law
Hofstadter’s Law
Law of Uniform ConnectednessLaw of Uniform Connectedness
Law of Uniform Connectedness
Incentive-Superresponse-TendencyIncentive-Superresponse-Tendency
Incentive-Superresponse-Tendency
The DRY PrincipleThe DRY Principle
The DRY Principle
False CausalityFalse Causality
False Causality
The Shirky PrincipleThe Shirky Principle
The Shirky Principle
Authority BiasAuthority Bias
Authority Bias
non-Resultingnon-Resulting
non-Resulting
Object Oriented ProgrammingObject Oriented Programming
Object Oriented Programming
The Law of DemeterThe Law of Demeter
The Law of Demeter
CAP TheoremCAP Theorem
CAP Theorem
Hyrum’s Law (The Law of Implicit Interfaces)Hyrum’s Law (The Law of Implicit Interfaces)
Hyrum’s Law (The Law of Implicit Interfaces)
The Dunning-Kruger EffectThe Dunning-Kruger Effect
The Dunning-Kruger Effect
Survivorship BiasSurvivorship Bias
Survivorship Bias
Peak-End-RulePeak-End-Rule
Peak-End-Rule
Paradox of Choice Paradox of Choice
Paradox of Choice
The Open/Closed PrincipleThe Open/Closed Principle
The Open/Closed Principle
FramingFraming
Framing
Neglect of probabilityNeglect of probability
Neglect of probability
Social LoafingSocial Loafing
Social Loafing
The Liskov Substitution PrincipleThe Liskov Substitution Principle
The Liskov Substitution Principle
ReciprocityReciprocity
Reciprocity
Chesterton’s FenceChesterton’s Fence
Chesterton’s Fence
Gall’s LawGall’s Law
Gall’s Law
Hutber’s LawHutber’s Law
Hutber’s Law
Halo EffectHalo Effect
Halo Effect
The Dependency Inversion PrincipleThe Dependency Inversion Principle
The Dependency Inversion Principle
Omission BiasOmission Bias
Omission Bias
Law of common regionLaw of common region
Law of common region
Wadler’s LawWadler’s Law
Wadler’s Law
Cognitive DissonanceCognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
Availability BiasAvailability Bias
Availability Bias
Parkinson’s LawParkinson’s Law
Parkinson’s Law
Occam’s RazorOccam’s Razor
Occam’s Razor
The Peter PrincipleThe Peter Principle
The Peter Principle
Premature Optimization EffectPremature Optimization Effect
Premature Optimization Effect
Miller’s LawMiller’s Law
Miller’s Law
Jakob’s LawJakob’s Law
Jakob’s Law
Moore’s LawMoore’s Law
Moore’s Law
Brooks’ LawBrooks’ Law
Brooks’ Law