Also known as the 80/20 Rule, the Pareto Principle suggests that a minority of inputs produce the majority of outputs.
In Software Engineering
- 80% of bugs are found in 20% of modules
- 80% of users use only 20% of features
- 80% of performance gains come from optimizing 20% of the code
This principle guides prioritization: focus effort on the vital few rather than the trivial many.