I know exactly what you mean. The only time I ever got an answer, I was briefly working at a large bank and it was something along the lines of reducing 'touch

I know exactly what you mean. The only time I ever got an answer, I was briefly working at a large bank and it was something along the lines of reducing 'touch-points'. The theory being that the more you have to alter the code later, the more likely you are to introduce new bugs. I think it's kind of bullshitty to write 1000 lines of code with the expectation that they'll be better written now then later when you have a clearer view of the requirements, but there it is. The whole mess with design patterns and their indirection machine gun reminds me of this move: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zzQgqacqhjI/Sf-oiHCviUI/AAAAAAAAATg/ImX20RrwBYM/s320/Handstand+on+a+skateboard.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zzQgqacqhjI/Sf-oiHCviUI/AAAAAAAAAT... Look, only one touchpoint! Much more reliable now.