How to explain? Well, without knowing I can't tell you for sure. But, for example, describe an area in it that is _typically_ hard/complicated/problematic (don't pick out the one max extreme, like processing names), and then a list of 10-20 other areas w/ simlar difficulties.
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Like, I would happily read a book-length description of all the weird vagaries of such systems, just to get a deep understanding of the nature of the problem, but I don't expect anyone to write such a book, or even a blog-length exploration of the complexities.
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Sean Barrett Retweeted Fabian Giesen
Two good answers: - From a C3 developer (the payroll system I linked): http://wiki.c2.com/?WhyIsPayrollHard … (via
@pcwalton) - https://twitter.com/rygorous/status/1039331023081754625 … Thread by@rygorousSean Barrett added,
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While that all sounds fairly gnarly and horrible to deal with, when I think about the complexity and messiness of your average video game this doesn't sound all THAT bad? Game code often has similar messiness (cross cutting special cases etc.). Maybe I'm being unfair.
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At least there aren't any legal repercussions if the ogre gets locked up or something, so I guess that's something.
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Most games are designed to operate within reasonably sane systems, and if a mechanic gets too gnarly, it gets dropped. If the average game was 100s of KLOCs of hand-coded rules and exceptions to those rules and exceptions to the exceptions maybe.
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Specifically, games tend to have a fairly direct feedback loop between people who come up with rules and people who have to implement them (often one and the same), which reduces the likelihood of eldritch abominations.
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Oh I'm not so sure about that! Systems code has a better chance of staying sane, maybe, but game code can get unbelievably messy to get the feel just right, and keep the experience fresh with unique stuff happening all the time etc..
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I think the most important difference is that if game code goes wrong, oh well. If payroll code goes wrong in the slightest, very bad legal things happen, up to and including criminal liability.
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well, it goes somewhat wrong all the time and mostly it just means "we'll fix it and refund you the difference in your next check" but some bugs can get expensive.
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Yeah, I admittedly exaggerated it. Not all mistakes are that bad. But there are some very bad outcomes in the long tail of consequences for getting payroll wrong.
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