Simplicity Revisited
February 17th, 2008
“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked…. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system.”
Gall, J. 1986. Systemantics: How Systems Really Work and How They Fail. Second Edition. Ann Arbor, MI: The General Systemantics Press, p. 65.
As Simple As Possible, But No Simpler
February 11th, 2008
Simplicity is a feature. It’s a feature shared by too few software projects, and as such should be highly sought after and implemented wherever possible. Sadly, the reason it’s so often not implemented is because developers do not believe they have time to implement it.
“I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have time.”Read the rest of this entry
—attributed to Blaise Pascal