About four and a half years ago I wrote a post titled The only design pattern is small solutions. I've recently run into the problem of how small and good intended solutions grows to massive complex systems which devour everything around them. It now reached a point where the code we understand and can work with is in minority.
You know how good ideas need to reach a critical mass before they spread and become popular? Well, these massive complex systems are the black hole equivalent of that -- they absorb everything around them, making themselves larger and more complex with every idea that come in contact with it. They are good ideas that grew out of proportions into black holes of never-ending complexity.
Generally, we prefer to use small to-the-point solutions. We like things that are easy to understand and get our job done. But we also like to show that we're good at what we're doing. Of course, the size of a system reflects the size of the solved problem, but lately I'm thinking more and more that the size of the system also reflects the size of the designer's ego. Great egos write complex software.
I've had the luck of working with really great people who made me realize what it means to write great software with a great team. Maybe at some point I'll get to experience both at the same time, or even one of them over a longer period of time. Anyway, this experience shaped me in really positive ways, and it's only lately that I realized how these two things go hand in hand. Being humble is the opposite of having a big ego -- simple is the opposite of complex. Humble people write simple software.
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