Keeping it Simple

I posted this on worse than failure's sidebar because I just had to share it, but I'm putting it here in my diary for keeps:

I'm a hack looking for a new job. Hack that I am, even I know that simplicity is a laudable goal in software development. I was quite amused to see one poster proudly declare, "Our software is among the most complex ever created". That is some accomplishment! Not sure how long google cache link will last.

This brings to mind some quotes from a couple luminaries:

• UNIX is simple. It just takes a genius to understand its simplicity - Dennis Ritchie
• There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. - C.A.R. Hoare
• Increasingly, people seem to misinterpret complexity as sophistication, which is baffling---the incomprehensible should cause suspicion rather than admiration. Possibly this trend results from a mistaken belief that using a somewhat mysterious device confers an aura of power on the user. - Niklaus Wirth
• The belief that complex systems require armies of designers and programmers is wrong. A system that is not understood in its entirety, or at least to a significant degree of detail by a single individual, should probably not be built. - Niklaus Wirth
• Inside every large program, there is a small program trying to get out. - C.A.R. Hoare
  

I can imagine the laughter that would generated if I included as a bullet point on my resume, "My software is among the most complex ever created".