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  • Complexity is not irreducible. We have "abstraction" and "chunking" and "organization" to try to manage complexity. I would think that a complex operation can be described in a number of simpler steps. It works for many real-world physical processes: summaries, overviews, etc. Commented Dec 5, 2011 at 21:54
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    @S.Lott: True, but enough scrolling and Ctrl-clicking could make a "simplified" process more difficult to follow. I've seen it happen once or twice (it's not common but it can be very frustrating to work with when it goes too far). Commented Dec 5, 2011 at 21:57
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    @S.Lott - there are still bounds to how far complexity can be reduced. You can eliminate unnecessary complexity, but you can only manage (not eliminate) necessary complexity - the complexity that is inherent in the requirements. Arguably, the mechanisms to manage complexity also increase complexity - some added complexity is involved in moving irrelevant complexity out of the way to better reveal the relevant details for a particular aspect/issue/construct. Commented Dec 6, 2011 at 7:09
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    @S.Lott - Well, it's certainly true that you can represent any requirement you want with a zero-complexity (completely empty) source file. But since you need a very specific language to get your requirements fulfilled, all you're doing is moving your requirements into the language specification. Commented Dec 6, 2011 at 11:39
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    @S.Lott - if you're claiming that you can predict the position of Jupiter on Christmas Day using nothing but G=0, I think you're insane. If you're not, you're missing my point. Certainly you can abstract away irrelevant detail, but it's not irrelevant if your requirements say it's relevant. If you read back, I never claimed that all complexity is necessary - only that some complexity is inherent in the requirements and cannot be eliminated. Commented Dec 6, 2011 at 12:09