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banana problem
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banana problem /n./ [from the story of the little girl who
said "I know how to spell `banana', but I don't know when to
stop"]. Not knowing where or when to bring a production to a
close (compare fencepost error). One may say `there is a
banana problem' of an algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect
termination conditions, or in discussing the evolution of a design
that may be succumbing to featuritis (see also creeping
elegance, creeping featuritis). See item 176 under
HAKMEM, which describes a banana problem in a Dissociated
Press implementation. Also, see one-banana problem for a
superficially similar but unrelated usage.
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