The Efficiency-Destroying Magic of Tidying Up

Living with Complexity, by Donald A. Norman

In which we learn that, based on Tesler's law of the conservation of complexity, “the total complexity of a system is a constant: as you make the person's interaction simpler, the hidden complexity behind the scenes increases. Make one part of the system simpler, said Tesler, and the rest of the system gets more complex.”

Second-system effect

“Tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems, to be succeeded by over-engineered, bloated systems”

SpaceX's 5-Step design and manufacturing process

“1. Make requirement less dumb; 2. Try to delete parts; 3. Simplify or optimize; 4. Accelerate cycle time; 5. Automate”. See full transcript

I try to optimize my code around reducing state, coupling, complexity and code, in that order

An engineer's perspective on which priorities should be addressed first to increase robustness of systems