Originally Posted by
Castillan
Why is it insane to determine what the (typical) worst case scenario is, and then ask oneself, "Is this what we really intend with our system"? I'm a software engineer. I write code for a living. One of the things we're always doing, ALWAYS, is to look at the worst case scenario and determine if that is fair and reasonable and tolerable by the consumers of the software we make, and if it's not, then we find a better solution.
It's a mindset that I've worked with all my working life. Basically it boils down to this. SOMEONE WILL find a way to exercise the worst possible scenario, whether intentionally or accidentally, and if they do that, what would they see, and can we prevent that, either by putting artificial limits in place, or recoding the algorithm to something more adaptable.
This is the essence of any good software design. Understand where your limits are, and address them.