alt Hacker NewsOne of my favorite quotes: “There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.”
I think about this a lot because it’s true of any complex system or argument, not just software.
Replies
It seems that with vibe coding our industry has finally, permanently embraced the latter approach. RIP Tony.
We are poorer for him having waited to drop that sentence at his Turing Award acceptance speech. I use it all the time.
Tony might be my favorite computer scientist.
aged very well
Reminds me of this Pascal quote: "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."
https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2014/02/03/270680304/this-...
Reminds me of this quote... “A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.”
One of the policies of The Rhinoceros Party in Canada was to increase the complexity of the taxation system so much that nobody could find the loopholes to exploit.
Good thing we now have technology that allows us to crank out complex software at rates never-before seen.
This is indeed a great quote (one of many gems from Sir Tony) but I think the context that follows it is also an essential insight:
> The first method is far more difficult. It demands the same skill, devotion, insight, and even inspiration as the discovery of the simple physical laws which underlie the complex phenomena of nature. It also requires a willingness to accept objectives which are limited by physical, logical, and technological constraints, and to accept a compromise when conflicting objectives cannot be met. No committee will ever do this until it is too late.
(All from his Turing Award lecture, "The Emperor's Old Clothes": https://www.labouseur.com/projects/codeReckon/papers/The-Emp...)