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I guess my best AHHA moment was back when I learned that good code is simple code.

When I started out I wanted to prove myself by showing of how good of a programmer I was(and which I retrospectively wasn't) , which basically meant to use every high level concept I was aware of whenever possible. Multi threading where linear execution would have been totally okay, polymorphism with x meta classes where a switch would have been enough, all that shit.

It wasn't until I had to guide the first person through that mess of useless ego stroking that I found out how much time and money I wasted by not going with the easiest approach that solves the problem.

Took me some time to fully lay off that attitude but it surely was one of the most influential moments of my career.

Comments
  • 2
    "All that is too complex is unnecessary, and it is simple that is needed." (motto of Mikhail Kalashnikov)
  • 3
    Simple is better than complex.
    If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
    - zen of python
  • 2
    "A good programmer thinks good coding means building a complex system and being able to keep it running, but a very good programmer will avoid complexity whenever he can."

    Dunno where I first heard that, but I wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately, most others don't. It's such a shame KISS has fallen out of favor.
  • 1
    More line you write, more time someone has to spend to read it (most often yourself). If you want the world a better place, don't write any code.
  • 1
    Once you realize that all of programming is simply transforming data from one state into the next it becomes evident that the simplest, most straightforward way to make that transformation happen is almost always the best.
  • 0
    @mcalis yeah ikind of realized this a few weeks ago, it changed my thinking and code.

    Great thread.
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