What is great software?

I overheard a conversation/argument a few days ago between two developers. At one point one of the developers said “well my product is greater than anything you’ve ever done!” It’s a shame the other developer didn’t respond by simply saying “prove it”.


How could the first developer prove it?


Proving whether a product is great or not depends upon how well the product fulfills its intended purpose. If a product was developed with the intention to annoy everybody who uses it, and it does, it’s a great product. If it doesn’t annoy the users, it’s not a great product. Of course, this would rarely be the intention for a product, but it illustrates a valuable point. A product doesn’t have to look good or work perfectly for it to be great, unless that was the intention

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