Code Simplicity by Max Kanat-Alexander

Author:Max Kanat-Alexander [Max Kanat-Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: COMPUTERS / Programming / General
ISBN: 9781449313883
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Published: 2012-03-22T16:00:00+00:00

Being Too Generic

When faced with the fact that their code will change in the future, some developers attempt to solve the problem by designing a solution so generic that (they believe) it will accommodate every possible future situation. We call this “overengineering.”

The dictionary defines overengineering as a combination of “over” (meaning “too much”) and “engineer” (meaning “design and build”). So, per the dictionary, it means designing or building too much for your situation.

Wait—designing or building too much? What’s “too much”? Isn’t design a good thing?

Well, yes, most projects could use more design, as we saw in Example: Code Without Enough Design. But once in a while, somebody really gets into it and just goes overboard—sort of like building an orbital laser to destroy an anthill. An orbital laser is an amazing engineering feat, but it costs an enormous amount of money, takes far too long to build, and is a maintenance nightmare. Can you imagine having to go up there and fix it when it breaks?

There are several other problems with overengineering:

You can’t predict the future, so no matter how generic your solution is, it will not be generic enough to satisfy the actual future requirements you will have.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.