4 ms·
Once you have a certain size codebase / ecosystem, removing unnecessary complexity from it is a much harder skill than adding more. Some 'law' about always som
by RetroTechie 3y ago
Once you have a certain size codebase / ecosystem, removing unnecessary complexity from it is a much harder skill than adding more.
Some 'law' about always something, somewhere depending on whatever got built previously. Documented or not.
Of course there's the rewrite. Read: starting over with a better design than existing one. Yet another skill that few mortals possess when it comes to intricate machinery like an OS.
And then a whole bunch of functionality must be re-implemented. Which takes countless human-hours (always in short supply). If not years.
That leaves the option to replace pieces one by one with better ones, leaving overall structure (mostly) in place / working. Oh wait, that's what is usually done. Rip something out, plug the hole, move on.
- wavemode 3y agoAh, you're thinking of Hyrum's Law. Hyrum's Law in comic form: https://xkcd.com/1172/ https://xkcd.com/1172/
- clubm8 3y ago[flagged]
- spacecadet 3y agoI worked with an engineer once who spent most of their time refactoring and cleaning up. They explained over beers how they wanted to spend more time being net-negative. After they left, sure enough, removed more code than ever added and was the best member of the team. That stuck with me and I also now strive, where it makes sense, to remove before create.
- zubairq 3y agoYes, I do the same. I always get reminded of a quote which compares adding lines of code to a codebase being similar to adding weight to an aircraft.