"is it worth the time?"

expression

ops cultureprogramming

The question of whether automating a task actually saves more time than it costs to automate.

A famous xkcd table weighs how often you do a task against how long automating it takes, to show when the effort pays off. It is the honest counterweight to the engineer's instinct to automate everything, and a close cousin of yak shaving.

Also known as: automation tradeoff, xkcd 1205, worth the time

Sources

  • xkcd 1205, "Is It Worth the Time?"

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