Programmers are optimists (well, most anyway)

I ran across the 'GodObject' anti-pattern http://perldesignpatterns.com/?GodObject and saw this quote which seemed worth repeating regarding development in general:

Programmers are optimists. We assume that each feature in the specification
for a project can be added in a constant amount of time even as the code grows,
and we add each new feature just like we added the last. In other words, that
programs are completed in linear time. The last half, recursively, takes twice
as long.

This is very easy to lose track of when estimating, espically on a large system. If this post even saves one developer from an unnecessary late night (or nights) then it has done its job :)

jk