6 ms·
> what I came to call “the Law of Conservation of Ugly”. In many software problems, there’s a part that just is never going to feel elegant This may be an inst
by jamestnz 1y ago
> what I came to call “the Law of Conservation of Ugly”. In many software problems, there’s a part that just is never going to feel elegant
This may be an instance of the Waterbed Principle: in any sufficiently-complex system, suppressing or refactoring some undesirable characteristic in one area inevitably causes an undesirability to pop up somewhere else. Like there is some minimum amount of complexity/ugliness/etc that it is possible for the entire system to contain while still carrying out its essential functions, and it must leak out somewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbed_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbed_theory
- vacuity 1y agoThe terms I've seen used and prefer to use are "essential complexity" and "accidental complexity".