workaround

{{Short description|Bypass of a recognized problem or limitation in a system}}

File:Miles Glacier Bridge, damage and kludge, 1984.jpg, with a temporary repair after a 1964 March earthquake which was finally repaired in July 2004]]

A workaround is a bypass of a recognized problem or limitation in a system or policy.{{cite journal | author = Arif Wibisono, Ibrahim Alhassan, David Sammon, Ciara Heavin, Gaye Kiely, Erma Suryani| year = 2019| title = Understanding Theory of Workarounds in Practice | journal = Procedia Computer Science | volume = 161 | issue = 3| pages = 187–194 | doi=10.1016/j.procs.2019.11.114| doi-access = free}} A workaround is typically a temporary fix"IT: a temporary method for dealing with a computer or software problem until a more permanent solution is found: One easy workaround is to ..."{{cite web |title=work around - Definition |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/work-around |website=Cambridge English Dictionary}} that implies that a genuine solution to the problem is needed. But workarounds are frequently as creative as true solutions, involving outside the box thinking"It requires that social workers think 'outside the box' - outside their normal frames of ...{{cite book |title=ndigenous Social Work Around the World: Towards Culturally Relevant |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0754648389 |isbn=978-0754648383 |author1=Mel Gray |author2=John Coates |author3=Michael Yellow Bird |date=2008| publisher=Ashgate Publishing }} in their creation.

Typically they are considered brittle{{cite web |title=Workaround [#1176558] |website=Drupal.org |date=2 June 2011 |url=https://www.drupal.org/node/1176558}} in that they will not respond well to further pressure from a system beyond the original design. In implementing a workaround it is important to flag the change so as to later implement a proper solution.{{cite web |title=How to Fix the 'A [?]' Autocorrect Bug in iOS 11 When Typing 'i' |date=7 November 2017 |url=https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/fix-a-autocorrect-bug-ios-11-when-typing-i-out-your-iphone-0181016}}

Placing pressure on a workaround may result in later system failures. For example, in computer programming workarounds are often used to address a problem or anti-pattern in a library, such as an incorrect return value. When the library is changed, the workaround may break the overall program functionality, effectively becoming an anti-pattern, since it may expect the older, wrong behaviour from the library.

Workarounds can also be a useful source of ideas for improvement of products or services.{{cite web|url=http://theanthroguys.com/2009/09/17/can%E2%80%99t-you-just-ask-people/ |title=Can't You Just Ask People? |publisher=TheAnthroGuys |access-date=2014-08-08}}

Legal workarounds

When the legal system places an obstacle in the form of a restriction or requirement, the law may provide a possible workaround. Laws intended to tap into what may seem to be deep pockets may lead to what are at least

temporary solutions such as:

Since "most French workplace laws affect businesses with 50 or more employees... many French companies opt to employ only 49 people in avoidance of crippling legislations."{{cite book |title=Thinking Tech: Thoughts On the Key Technological Trends of Our Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1483595900 |isbn=978-1483595900 |author=Anurag Harsh |date=2017}}
An injunction against Microsoft regarding XML features and an easy technical workaround, a patent attorney suggested having two versions of MS Word, one with and one without the feature.{{cite web|title='Easy workaround' could solve Microsoft Word's legal woes, says expert|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/urnidgns852573c40069388000257612003e86b7/easy-workaround-could-solve-microsoft-words-legal-woes-says-expert-idUS265507465920090814 |website=reuters.com |date=August 14, 2009}}

= Acronyms =

Some well-known acronyms were created to work around bureaucratic or contracting restrictions:

PDP - The term was used to describe a computer by another name, due to contracting complications for purchasing or leasing computers. The term PDP (Programmed Data Processor or Programmable Data Processor) was a workaround.{{cite journal |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19860004398.pdf |title=VAS Demonstration |website=nasa.gov|date=October 1985 |last1=Montgomery |first1=H. E. |last2=Uccellini |first2=L. W. }}{{cite web |website=harvard.edu|url=http://www.innovation.seas.harvard.edu/files/Disruptive_technology.ppt|title=New Market Disruption: The DEC Programmable Data Processor}}{{cite book |title=Computers in Analytical Chemistry |page=153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1483285626 |isbn=978-1483285627 |author=R Belcher |date=2013|publisher=Elsevier }} "The term PDP is an acronym for Programmable Data Processor ... the series was introduced by their manufacturer, Digital Equipment Corporation ..."{{cite web |url=https://digital.com/about/dec |title=The History of Digital Equipment Corporation}} The name "PDP" intentionally avoids the use of the term "computer".{{cite book|last1=Henderson |first1=edited by Rebecca M.|last2=Newell|first2=Richard G.|title=Accelerating energy innovation : insights from multiple sectors|date=2011 |publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0226326832|page=180}}{{cite book|last1=Huang |first1=Han-Way|title=The atmel AVR microcontroller : MEGA and XMEGA in assembly and C|date=2014 |publisher=Delmar Cengage Learning|location=Australia ; United Kingdom|isbn=978-1133607298|page=4}} PDPs were aimed at a market that could not afford larger computers.
GNU - GNU's Not UNIX. As AT&T's prices for academic licensing and use of UNIX increased,{{cite web |title=Old licenses and prices

|url=https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/licenses.html}} new restrictions on maximum number of concurrent users and limitations on types of userestricting " universities that wanted to use the system for their internal business (e.g. student registration) as distinct from teaching and research created a motivation for an alternative: a work-alike workaround. Among the better known ones are:

Linux
BSD
System V
PSAP. By contrast with hearing aids, the sale of which is more regulatedSince a licensed audiologist is required{{cite news |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |author=Neil DiSarno |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-inexpensive-hearing-aids-called-psaps-1403470481 |title=Pros and Cons of Inexpensive Hearing Aids Called PSAPs|date=22 June 2014 }} and more expensive,{{cite web |author=Kochkin, Sergei, Ph.D. |url=http://www.betterhearing.org/pdfs/PSAP_study.pdf |title=MarkeTrak VIII: Utilization of PSAPs and Direct-Mail Hearing Aids by People with Hearing Impairment}} a Personal Sound Amplification Product (PSAP) is lower in price albeit more limited in capability.

References

Category:Software quality

Category:Software maintenance

workaround

Legal workarounds

= Acronyms =

See also

References