Why Most Developers Overengineer Their Projects
A practical breakdown of premature architecture, unnecessary abstractions, and building systems proportional to the actual problem.
// TABLE OF CONTENTS+
05DiscussionThe temptation to build the perfect system
It is easy to start a small project and immediately design for a scale that does not exist. The architecture becomes more impressive than the product.
Complexity is expensive. Simplicity is a superpower.
— Engineering principle
Start with the smallest useful architecture
article.tstypescript
const solution = solve(problem);
if (solution.works) {
ship(solution);
}- Understand the actual requirement.
- Build the simplest correct solution.
- Measure real problems.
- Add complexity only when it solves one.
| Premature | Proportional |
|---|---|
| Microservices immediately | Modular application |
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OPEN
Thoughts on the article.
testing testing testing
A good reminder that architecture should follow requirements instead of becoming the product itself.
The comparison between a modular application and immediately reaching for microservices was especially useful.
The point about proportional architecture is something I have had to learn the hard way. It is surprisingly easy to solve problems that do not exist yet.