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I was debating whether or no it is best to release software and then get feedback and then do updated versions (1.1, 1.0.1 etc.) or work and work so there only has to be version 1. Then I thought, maybe that's already done. I looked around a bit but couldn't really find much so I came here to ask if anyone has come across software that has never been updated because it was perfect 1st time round. Any help would be much appreciated!

-Trey

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    This is probably too Meta of a question. Perfect as judged by whom? Free of bugs? Is a design defect a bug? Is a missing feature a bug? Is a bug in a feature that only .0001% of us use still disqualifying? Software is too complex to divide in solely two bins - perfect, and everything else. Sep 10, 2014 at 14:14
  • I mean it never did an update because there was no bugs, UI was perfect and there were plenty of user friendly options and customisations etc. Sep 10, 2014 at 14:15
  • Im sure every software package (nowadays) was/is put through Beta testing and the bugs are mostly taken care of before general release, but with technology moving so fast updates are essential forms of maintenance for software and hardware alike so one can argue that software is never perfect. Sep 10, 2014 at 14:19
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    @TreyTaylor ... and the world around you never changed, and your OS stayed the same version, and people never asked for the feature that your competitor just came out with. And a UI was perfect for people with vastly different mental models, and you magically did Internationalization somehow... Engineering is compromises. One resource constraint is time. What do I have time for in version 1? What can wait to 1.1? If you don't get the nature of constraints, you'll not be a good engineer :) Sep 10, 2014 at 14:19
  • I would vote to move this to Meta in all honesty Sep 10, 2014 at 14:43

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No software of useful complexity is ever finished or perfect. There merely becomes a point at which the cost to develop it further is larger than the benefit of doing so.

You should outline what features you want your software to have, and select a minimum set of features from those for your product to be useful. Versions 0 through 1 are your implementation of these minimum features, subsequent versions are bugfixes and implementations of the remaining features.

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  • Thank you, this expands my understanding (especially the 0 thorugh 1 part) Sep 10, 2014 at 14:26
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In a perfect world maybe... Nowadays, a good software is a software that is able to be adapted to fit many constraints easily. And because technology is moving waaay to fast, an update is a perfect tool (as you are found of perfection) to realize that and keep up with the ongoing changes. So having many versions wouldn't it be a step closer to reach the perfect software?

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