| Quote External |
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| source-uri | http://canonical.org/~kragen/tao-of-programming.html#book4 |
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| author | Geoffrey James |
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| author-uri | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/155036.Geoffrey_James |
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| source | The Tao of Programming |
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| source-date | 1987 |
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| A program should follow the `Law of Least Astonishment'. What is this law? It is simply that the program should always respond to the user in the way that astonishes him least. |
| Quote External |
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| author | J. H. Saltzer, Frans Kaashoek |
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| source | Principles of computer system design: an introduction |
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| source-date | 2009 |
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| People are part of the system. The design should match the user's experience, expectations, and mental models. |
Same things should be handled the same. Similar things should be handled similar. This way readers have an easier job to locate the information they are looking for. Readers expect a common structure for documents and the documentation. Diagrams and language should be similar throughout the documentation. Consistency increases the predictability and reduce distraction. Systems following this principle are easier to learn. | 
