View source for Vonada's engineering maxims (nonfiction)

'''Vonada's engineering maxims''' is a set of observations about computer engineering compiled by Don Vonada, an engineer at DEC, and reproduced in: C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, "Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design" (Digital Press, Bedford, 1978)

== Maxims ==

# There is no such thing as ground.
# Digital circuits are made from analog parts.
# Prototype designs always work.
# Asserted timing conditions are designed first; un-asserted timing conditions are found later.
# When all but one wire in a group of wires switch, that one will switch also.
# When all but one gate in a module switches, that one will switch also.
# Every little pico farad has a nano henry all its own.
# Capacitors convert voltage glitches to current glitches (conservation of energy).
# Interconnecting wires are probably transmission lines.
# Synchronizing circuits may take forever to make a decision.
# Worse-case tolerances never add - but when they do, they are found in the best customer's machine.
# Diagnostics are highly efficient in finding solved problems.
# Processing systems are only partially tested since it is impractical to simulate all possible machine states.
# Murphy's Laws apply 95 percent of the time. The other 5 percent of the time is a coffee break.

== In the News ==

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== Fiction cross-reference ==

* [[Gnomon algorithm]]
* [[Gnomon Chronicles]]

== Nonfiction cross-reference ==

* [[Gnomon Chronicles (nonfiction)]]

=== Categories ===

* [[:Category:Computers (nonfiction)]]

== External links ==

* [https://gunkies.org/wiki/Vonada's_Engineering_Maxims Vonada's Engineering Maxims] @ gunkies.org

=== Social media ===

* [https://twitter.com/kenshirriff/status/1633154548318732289 Post] @ Twitter (16 November 2023)


[[Category:Nonfiction (nonfiction)]]

[[Category:Computers (nonfiction)]]
[[Category:Electronics (nonfiction)]]
[[Category:Engineering (nonfiction)]]
[[Category:Quotations (nonfiction)]]



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