banana problem

	This is the JargonFile ^(V4.00) entry for banana problem - Next: bandwidth, Prev: banana label
:banana problem: /n./ [from the story of the little girl who said "I know how to spell banana, but I dont know when to stop"]. Not knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare fencepost error). One may say there is a banana problem of an algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect termination conditions, or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing to featuritis (see also creeping elegance, creeping featuritis). See item 176 under HAKMEM, which describes a banana problem in a Dissociated Press implementation. Also, see one-banana problem for a superficially similar but unrelated usage.
* (text is auto-included via JargonExtension by mutante using jargon with VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996 - JargonFile by Eric S. Raymond is in the public domain)