Don MacKinnon: Why Simplicity Beats Cleverness in Software Design [audio]
3 days ago
- #software-maintainability
- #team-culture
- #developer-tools
- Unnecessary complexity is the biggest barrier to software maintainability.
- Clever abstractions can make systems harder to maintain without delivering value.
- Searchcraft's engineering team structure grew from recurring pain points in client projects.
- Limiting configuration in SDK and infrastructure design keeps setup fast and predictable.
- Consulting and product work shape developers differently.
- Abandoned dependencies in ecosystems like React Native create problems.
- Evaluate third-party libraries based on adoption, update cadence, and issue activity.
- Clear project structure and idiomatic naming are more important than cleverness.
- RFCs help teams align on significant changes and avoid decision churn.
- Documentation should explain why, not just echo code.
- Type systems improve maintainability by providing structure and clear communication.
- Stable type contracts make tests cleaner and less ambiguous.
- AI tools like MCP help ground LLM behavior and improve trust.
- The Strangler pattern is a practical way to replace legacy systems incrementally.
- Deep work and uninterrupted thinking time are essential for developers.
- Track progress with build times, test speeds, and coverage metrics.
- Industry trends like SPAs and server rendering often follow pendulum swings.
- Experimentation and side projects can surface organically within teams.
- Set learning targets in 1:1s to support long-term developer growth.