Don't Walk Away From Complexity, Run
summary
Argues that complexity blocks agility and gives concrete failures and fixes: XML-heavy configuration forces XML configuration took 4–6 months to set up for each client; a UI action instantiates 1864 objects and takes 25 seconds; a JavaScript app accumulates 150 npm dependencies that break tests on upgrade. Recommends smaller surface areas, prefer libraries over frameworks for reversibility, reduce uncontrolled mutability, avoid invisible state changes, treat concurrency as a specialist problem, and favor functional-style refactors to lower accidental complexity.
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chapters (20)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:14agility is the ability to adapt to change
- 5:20A distributed system is one in which the failure of a computer you didn't even know existed can render your own computer
- 5:56Excessive Configuration Unnecessary Components
- 6:58Configuration in XML
- 12:00Uncontrolled Mutability
- 13:04State Transition Causes Brain Damage
- 17:52Happiness is when the world understands programmers
- 18:52Lack of Cohesion
- 19:12Frequency of Change
- 22:41You don't use Maven...
- 23:33Technology Infatuation
- 25:04Is this technology the right choice?
- 25:26Reversibility?
- 26:13Library vs. Framework
- 28:30When I was young...
- 31:02Resume Driven Development
- 31:54A Tale of Infatuation
- 38:01Accidental Complexity: Imperative Style
- 41:01We should learn to deal with complexity and have the wisdom to minimize it
