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I’ve always wondered if it has something to do with the software building process in general. First you get burned a few times because you overlook edge cases.
by mattbuilds 5y ago
I’ve always wondered if it has something to do with the software building process in general. First you get burned a few times because you overlook edge cases. As your skills improve, you get better at anticipating these problems. But then you reach a point where it goes overboard. You start seeing ghosts that aren’t there and solving problems that don’t exist. The mindset that helped you improve as a developer eventually makes you over think things and you need to go back to focusing on solving specific problems.
- pydry 5y agoYAGNI, basically. What's ironic about it is that about 1/2 the time developers correctly anticipate the general shape of the upcoming problem but it comes in a way they didn't expect thus they'd have done better by assuming it was never going to happen and dealing with it when it does. This is a subtle distinction most people don't get. I don't view it as a software development issue per se. Humans are just bad at predicting the future, bad at knowing how bad we are and bad at recognizing when we've been bad at it. Trying to build a REST API coz the customer will definitely want it some day and thinking you've got a system at the slots in Vegas are two sides of the same coin. And, I've learned the hard way that if a developer has got the same confidence that a granny at the slot machines has, preaching YAGNI isnt going to convince them they're wrong.
- mattbuilds 5y agoWeek late but I was just looking at my comments saw this and it’s so spot on. Attempting to predict the future is a suckers game.