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Tell HN: To make something simple, at the beginning make it complicated
I mean don't try to make things simple on the first attempt.
Instead of it, try to quickly implement the first prototype, it will be complicated by default.
But it gives you an ability to understand what you do wrong,
analyse and try to understand your mistakes.
Iterate.
It seems an obvious thing, but it became obvious for me after more than a year of work on my project.
- th0ma5 16y agoThis is certainly a sort of restating of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occams_razor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occams_razor except with the assumption that there's a lot of material to start with. I think these kinds of patterns are nice thought experiments for sure... for instance the antithesis to what you speak is to start with the absolute bare minimum, and then to consternate quite a bit before adding anything. Additionally one could use randomness or Vonnegut style cut-ups to juxtapose unrelated ideas into possibly new concepts. I'm glad you have found a method that works for you! That is perhaps the best statement of all.
- pankratiev 16y ago> to start with the absolute bare minimum, and then to consternate quite a bit before adding anything It's also a good approach but it doesn't work for me. For example, I started from the small set of features. When I implemented them and started adding more features I understood that the previous design doesn't fit, so I should modify it. The main problem for me in this approach is that I haven't a complete picture of the project.