A misfeature is a feature that eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is not adequate for a new situation that has evolved. Since it results from a deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is not a bug, nor is it a simple unforeseen side effect.
Description[]
The term "misfeature" implies that the feature in question was carefully planned, but its long-term consequences were not accurately or adequately predicted (which is quite different from not having thought ahead at all). A misfeature can be a particularly stubborn problem to resolve, because fixing it usually involves a substantial philosophical change to the structure of the system involved.[1]
Many misfeatures (especially in user interface design) arise because the designers/implementors mistake their personal tastes for laws of nature. Often a former feature becomes a misfeature because trade-offs were made whose parameters subsequently change (possibly only in the judgment of the implementors). "Well, yeah, it is kind of a misfeature that file names are limited to six characters, but the original implementors wanted to save directory space and we"re stuck with it for now."[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Misfeature at the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing. Accessed 2021-10-16.
External links[]
- Mis Feature at the WikiWikiWeb
- misfeature at Wiktionary
