The Cost Yagni Was Never About – By Kent Beck
3 hours ago
- #Software Design
- #YAGNI
- #Economics
- YAGNI is about timing, not saving effort; building structure too soon is as risky as building it too late.
- Speculative structure incurs two costs: optionality (losing flexibility when predictions are wrong or even correct) and NPV (costs pulled forward, revenue delayed).
- Cheap code generation (e.g., from AI) doesn't eliminate YAGNI's principles; it makes violations easier but still incurs optionality and NPV costs.
- YAGNI emphasizes holding the option to build the right structure when needed, not just avoiding coding effort.