23 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Is modern Front-End development overengineered?
Wait until you hear about DevOps and back-end.
My thesis is that 90 percent of all “web-apps” could easily run on a Linux VM, rocking some MySQL db and using a simple REST API. When I look at the “landscape”/stack at where I work — all I see is an ocean of onions. Everytime you need to do anything you have to peel it back layer after layer until all there is left are tears.
Comment by bunny_go at 17/01/2025 at 03:22 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is sadly true, I would love to read that work.
There are some non-trivial things driving it and I don't see any change any time soon.
The way I see it is, in a not-sorted, non-comprehensive list:
- SW engeniiering is much simpler these days than it used to be - building simple forms, therefore, is boring. Engs keep themselves interested in the profession by adding new-tech which ultimately causing unnecessary complexity
- The Cargo Cult - "if Google uses X, and then we use X, we are practitally as good/smart/reputable as Google is". People bring in tech that was invented to solve a totally different problem just so they can feel as cool as Google
- Justification of own existence and budgets - it is actually in the interest of many engs and architects to use complicated, new, ever-changing technology. Buildingg something simple does not need a big team, does not need a big effort to keep it running, and does not need a lot of effort to keep it up to date. Over-architecting and over-engineernig is job safety
- Miunderstanding core concepts leads to poor implementation often. Digging into a technology deep to really understand it creates FOMO of all other new techologies, so spending time to understand thigns is of the past. Many ideas (e.g., functional languages, microservices, cotainers, etc) are complex and do not solve all problems for all people, but not fully understanding pros/cons and what and how they do create more problems than they solve.
- Ego makes everything stuck. Once the complex crap is in, admitting we made a mistake is not in anyone's interest. Not the architect, not the devs, not the managers. They are often spending someone else's money anyway.