Hints and Principles for Computer System Design

Abstract

This new long version of my 1983 paper suggests the goals you might have for your system -- Simple, Timely, Efficient, Adaptable, Dependable, Yummy (STEADY) -- and techniques for achieving them -- Approximate, Incremental, Divide & Conquer (AID). It also gives some principles for system design that are more than just hints, and many examples of how to apply the ideas.