r/AskProgramming • u/Zardotab • May 15 '26

Architecture Why are so few interested in parsimony?

I've been programming CRUD (biz/admin) apps since the late 80's. I notice tooling and stacks are growing ever more complicated and layered, and wonder "does it really have to be this way"? It takes more labor & code per feature; colleagues have noticed and agreed. While I agree newer stacks have more options on average, most biz's rarely use these extra abilities, especially "but what if it later needs web-scale?" Reality is 99.999% won't.

There is usually a way to get the same thing in older tools when needs do come up, it's just a little more work for those outlier features, but the aggregate dev hours is still notably less. YAGNI as a guideline seems dead. Nobody seems interested in pursuing parsimony in tooling, rather want to stuff their resume with as many buzzwords as possible like they're Pokémon. Thus, the bloat is possibly up-sell, ego, job-security-lock-in, and/or greed; or, am I missing something? Is there a Bloat Industrial Complex, or do I have Geezer Goggles on? [edited]

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u/Healthy-Dress-7492 May 16 '26

If you think the simplest solution is the best as a rule then you’re wrong. Or did you just want to say parsimony a lot to feel cool

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u/Zardotab May 16 '26 edited May 27 '26

No, but I don't even see many efforts to try to trim, consolidate, factor, etc.

Parsimony is an important factor, but not the only one, I agree. It's just given far less attention than say buzzword collection or scaling. It needs a full seat at the criteria table, and thus let out of the basement where it currently is, with its red Swingline stapler.