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I think the confusion around simplicity is in what terms a thing is simple. For example, 2 pieces of text can be simple in 2 different ways: First text is lon

I think the confusion around simplicity is in what terms a thing is simple. For example, 2 pieces of text can be simple in 2 different ways: First text is long but uses fewer words in vocabulary. So it is "simple" in a sense you need to learn only few words to read it. Second text is short but uses richer vocabulary to describe things with fewer words (syntactic sugar). It is "simple" in a sense you only need few words to describe stuff, but more "complicated" because you need to learn more words. "Neat" code can be "simple" to maintain. "Messy" code can be "simple" to implement.

collyw 7y ago
>"Neat" code can be "simple" to maintain. "Messy" code can be "simple" to implement. I was thinking something similar recently. Good code should take the next developer less time / effort to understand it than it took the original developer to write it (assuming similar levels of ability).
- bonoboTP 7y ago
  > the next developer And that's often you, just in a few months' time.
  - collyw 7y ago
    True. And as I mentioned in another comment, I learned the most by building a system from scratch and maintaining git for 4 and a half years. If I couldn't understand a bit of code that had written more or less straight away, then it was usually time to refactor it.
weego 7y ago
I don't think there is a confusion around simplicity. It just seems like strawman blog filler and this article is no different.
zzzcpan 7y ago
What you are describing here is approaching usability. And when it comes to usability simplicity doesn't matter on its own, there are four other things to always keep in mind together with simplicity: consistency, flexibility, universality and familiarity. And then understanding what users need your piece of text for applying those concept to come up with the best balance to make users think and learn as little as possible throughout the whole lifecycle of the use. Take, for example, familiarity. If you use a richer vocabulary that your users already familiar with, they certainly wouldn't need to learn more words and the piece with richer vocabulary would be easier for them to go through, than the longer piece with poorer vocabulary. Simple doesn't mean more usable, but it's a pretty straightforward concept to understand, there is no confusion around it.
base698 7y ago
Messy code is easy. See "Simple made Easy" talk mentioned at the top.

collyw 7y ago

>"Neat" code can be "simple" to maintain. "Messy" code can be "simple" to implement. I was thinking something similar recently. Good code should take the next developer less time / effort to understand it than it took the original developer to write it (assuming similar levels of ability).

bonoboTP 7y ago
> the next developer And that's often you, just in a few months' time.
- collyw 7y ago
  True. And as I mentioned in another comment, I learned the most by building a system from scratch and maintaining git for 4 and a half years. If I couldn't understand a bit of code that had written more or less straight away, then it was usually time to refactor it.

weego 7y ago

I don't think there is a confusion around simplicity. It just seems like strawman blog filler and this article is no different.

zzzcpan 7y ago

What you are describing here is approaching usability. And when it comes to usability simplicity doesn't matter on its own, there are four other things to always keep in mind together with simplicity: consistency, flexibility, universality and familiarity. And then understanding what users need your piece of text for applying those concept to come up with the best balance to make users think and learn as little as possible throughout the whole lifecycle of the use. Take, for example, familiarity. If you use a richer vocabulary that your users already familiar with, they certainly wouldn't need to learn more words and the piece with richer vocabulary would be easier for them to go through, than the longer piece with poorer vocabulary. Simple doesn't mean more usable, but it's a pretty straightforward concept to understand, there is no confusion around it.

base698 7y ago

Messy code is easy. See "Simple made Easy" talk mentioned at the top.