Tech Notes: Complexity is the enemy

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the importance of avoiding complexity in software development, and how simplicity and straightforward design can be more beneficial than adding layers of complexity.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Complexity is the enemy

1. What are the key points made about complexity in software development?

• Complexity is the "death of software" - it creeps in slowly and is hard to see until it's too late
• Adding new features or scaling often increases complexity, such as adding a layer of indirection or splitting a process across multiple machines
• Complexity makes software harder to write and debug, as "Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place"
• Simplicity and straightforward design are preferable to adding layers of complexity

2. How does the author suggest addressing complexity?

• Having specific design goals to evaluate new code against can help reject unnecessary complexity
• Using "weaker" tools like C, which have limited capabilities, can make it harder to write overly complex code
• The author suggests writing Python code with the same simplicity and straightforwardness as C

[02] Lessons from experience

1. What insights has the author gained from their experience working at Google?

• The author has learned that complexity is a significant challenge in software development, and that it's important to understand when complexity is warranted versus when it should be avoided
• The author has observed that it's easier to write long, complex code than it is to write straightforward, simple code
• The author has found that using design goals and "weaker" tools can help limit unnecessary complexity in software projects