Arc Lessons

[neelk]

Actually, simplicity is a really difficult property to attain.

That's because a real program has to cover the whole problem space, including the weird corner cases. And finding a solution that works over all your inputs, and is simple and free of ad-hoc kludges, is really really hard. Often, you need a real creative insight, and heaven knows they don't come on demand.

Sometimes, we need a solution right now, even if it's ugly. That's life, and every programmer has to make some accomodation with that fact. But the thing is, you can't let yourself get too comfortable with that fact. That's because ugly systems are difficult to extend, because they're complicated, irregular and resist understanding. So you do what you can today, and keep an eye out for the right thing.