XP QoW: Assume Simplicity

The second in my series of quotes from Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change by Kent Beck. Once a week I post a quote from XP that I think is really important to consider when developing software. This is from the second page of Chapter 8:

“Assume simplicity-Treat every problem as if it can be solved with ridiculous simplicity. The time you save on the 98% of problems for which this is true will give you ridiculous resources to apply to the other 2%. In many ways, this is the hardest principle for programmers to swallow. We are traditionally told to plan for the future, to design for reuse. Instead, XP says to do a  good job (tests, refactoring, communication) of solving today’s job today and trust your ability to add complexity in the future where you need it. The economics of software favor this approach.”

Two guys built Twitter in two weeks.

Looks for more XP Quotes of the Week to be forthcoming.

Past quotes:

• XP QoW: The Customers get to Pick 3 – March 5, 2008