XPDAY2006: Why is simple so difficult?
Why is simple so difficult? was a goldfish-bowl discussion facilitated by Nat Pryce and Jonathan Clarke. It was an energetic session with people pinging in and out of the bowl at a rate of knots. Here's some of the things that were said:- Simplicity emerges. We should be saying - have the simplest thing, not do the simplest thing.
- Dan North said simplicity is clarity of intent. How clearly can I express intent? If redundant code supports clarity then I'm ok with that. I like 'clarity of intent' as a definition for simplicity.
- Steve Freeman said code is an aesthetic experience as well as a technical experience. If code isn't simple it'll suck the life out of you. As craftsmen there is a sense of pride we take in writing simple code.
- Someone asked - should we be talking about least complexity rather than simplicity?
- It isn't good to be fastidiously tidy. If the code is pristine you don't want to touch it for fear of breaking a work of art. A little mess is therefore a good thing.
- Accidental complexity is a natural by-product of developing software. We're very good at creating this tacitly.
Posted by Simon Baker @ permalink
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