"you need a very clear set of requirements. Every constraint on the table"
How nice it would be to live in this fantasy world
Perfection is not over-engineering
111–120 of 132 posts
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#112"We're not trying to build a perfect solution here" is not something said to assuage over-engineering or encourage sloppy work. It's said to head off a specific complaint from a specific kind engineer who will object that the proposed solution won't work because it doesn't cover some obscure edge case which rarely comes up in production. "We're not trying to build a perfect solution here" is saying "We acknowledge no…
In my experience when a manager says that it means “let’s just ignore the architecture and use a short cut if we can get the security team to rubber stamp it”.
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#113Beautifully written! I want to live in a world where we strive towards perfection, rather than strive to destroy it.
> Beautifully written!
This is written by AI. Maybe whoever prompted it has a point but I wouldn't say AI can reach the heights of beautiful writing yet, and this definitely doesn't.
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#114I'm all for pushing back against "let's not make perfect the enemy of good." I hear that all the time in reference to software that is usually quite bad, and often a little evil to boot--nothing good anywhere in sight except some poor schmuck trying to find a way to make their job something worth taking pride in. I'm not sure I agree that systems are products though. The product mindset is toxic. It means that you've…
Its about pragmatism. The problem is that a lot of software engineering tends to be not about building a product to service the buisness need. Lets be honest, a lot of the time engineering decisions are made because "it would be cool to use x" rather than "this is the fastest path to achieving business goal z" "over engineering" in a lot of cases is just either engineering gate keeping "oh you don't know how to do x…
Most engimeering decisioms aren't made my engineers. Many times, the goalpost keeps moving while the deadline stays the same.
The end result is cutting corners and perfection is never even a thought.
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#115Great article. So many engineers forget that requirements exist even when you don't write or don't search for them. It's kinda like mixing the map with the reality. And worse, engineers will push all the understanding of requirements to PM's that have zero technical judgement.
I really think this problem is likely within the top 3 causes that slows down our industry.
Wish organizations had training programs to make people learn this.
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#116It depends on the stage of the company and resources available.
For example if a startup running out of money, don't waste time on perfection, hack it out. Future revenue will lead to larger teams and re-write
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#117The problem is that sometimes while trying to make it perfect, you end up over-engineering it.
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#118It depends on the stage of the company and resources available. For example if a startup running out of money, don't waste time on perfection, hack it out. Future revenue will lead to larger teams and re-write
The budget is just another constraint that helps define the perfect solution. Sometimes quick and dirty is the perfect solution.
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#119[flagged]
Re: Perfection is not over-engineering
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always thought of that as “yak-shaving,” or “bikeshedding.” Quality takes longer. Sometimes, significantly longer, for many reasons. That’s why something top-shelf, costs so much more than commodity, when it doesn’t seem to have much more, in the way of features. Many orgs aren’t interested in spending that much extra time on it (which is their prerogative). The customer base tends to be smaller, and a lot more fic…
I love the social/cultural aspects of our engineering discipline. > I always thought of that as “yak-shaving,” or “bikeshedding.” I think of yak-shaving as ending up (by lack of discipline, or perhaps out of necessity) working on some supporting aspect of a supporting aspect of a supporting aspect... in service of the original task. So, a potential time suck, for sure, but "perfection is the enemy of completion" does…
Not sure why you were flagged to death, I had all the same thoughts. Vouched.
These phrases have a different meanings and it’s important to highlight them