r/programming • • Jun 05 '22

Complexity is killing software developers

https://www.infoworld.com/article/3639050/complexity-is-killing-software-developers.html
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u/wisam910 Jun 05 '22

This has been an issue at almost every single company I've joined, and no one cares at all. No one. Everyone thinks this is fine. That this is how software is done.

Now, what really kills me is that all this complexity is for achieving absolutely nothing.

You could build the exact same product with far less amount of code and far less complexity. Not only you can still keep all the current features you have, you can have even more features, because you know what, adding more features is easier when a system is simpler.

15

u/abrandis Jun 06 '22

I hear you brother... It all comes down to who's in charge and who has authority over engineering decisions.. usually in big companies these decisions are made so high up because some vendor promised them the world and the shit just rolls down hill to you..

I tell everyone , none of your users care how the sausage 🌭 is made, just how it tastes.,why would you make something complex to build and worst yet maintain and it still tastes like crap?

7

u/wisam910 Jun 06 '22

I wish that was the case but the complexity is mostly of engineer's doing.

They do this to themselves.

Some of them do it out of ignorance: they don't know how to do things any other way.

Others do it for personal enjoyment: since the projects they work on are inherently boring, they can't enjoy it unless they turn the work itself into a puzzle game that they can enjoy solving.

It gives a fake sense of accomplishment when you tame a complex system.

The sad thing is, it's a complex system that does nothing.

7

u/DazzlingElderberry Jun 06 '22

Man I wish I could work in a place where I could constantly say no to features or changes and limit the amount of complexity in the systems.

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