Occam’s Razor
Most people who’ve known me for any length of time know my fondness for Occam’s Razor—particularly when trying to decipher possible security problems in software. For many years, I had to explain the reference and its significance. Lately, though, I’m seeing references everywhere (the latest was on Buzz Andersen’s blog via Daring Fireball this morning).
In my own mind, I use it as a test: in the absence of differentiating evidence, the explanation with the fewest unknown dependencies—in other words, the simplest one—is likely correct.
October 28, 2007