Complex 與 Complicated 有什麼不同？

01-09

Stackoverflow上有相關問答，見：

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4568704/what-does-complex-is-better-than-complicated-mean

摘錄如下：

問：

In "The Zen of Python", by Tim Peters, the sentence "Complex is better than complicated" confused me. Can anyone give a more detailed explanation or an example?

答：

although complex and complicated sound alike, they do not mean the same in this context.

The Zen therefore says: It is okay to build very complex applications, as long as the need for it is reasonable.

To give an example:

counter = 0

while counter &< 5:

print counter

counter += 1

The code is very easy to understand. It is not complex. However, it is complicated. You do not need to manually perform most of the steps above.

for i in xrange(5):

print i

This code is more complex than the above example. But: knowing the documentation of ′xrange′ you can understand it by a single glance. Many steps are hidden behind an easy-to-use-interface.

As processes grow bigger, the gap between complicated and complex gets wider and wider.

A general rule of thumb is to follow the other principles of the Zen of Python:

If it is hard to explain, it is not a good idea.

If it"s easy to explain, it might be a good idea.

網上的解釋很多了，但我還是說說我的理解吧：

Complex 是指當一個系統由很多的部件組成，就形成了一個「複雜」的體系。這種複雜和理解上的困難不存在必然聯繫。

Complicated 則強調的是一種理解的難度。同樣，難理解的東西和這種東西的構造是否複雜，也不存在必然聯繫。

個人認為 complex是指無規律，機械的複雜

complicated多是指心理上感情上的複雜。

A Harvard Business Review article by Gokce Sargut and Rita Gunther McGrath offers these distinctions:

「 … the main difference between complicated and complex systems is that with the former, one can usually predict outcomes by knowing the starting conditions. In a complex system, the same starting conditions can produce different outcomes, depending on interactions of the elements in the system.」

For example, building a highway is complicated, but managing urban traffic congestion is complex. Likewise, building a state-of-the-art air traffic control center is a complicated challenge in executing a project, while directing air traffic is complex, involving in-the-moment problem-solving.

（Refer： http://www.businessofgovernment.org/sites/default/files/JohnKamensky.pdf ）

可以參考下這個Ted 小狗狗！現在我吸引到你的注意了，複合性理論