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Why Simple Things Are Actually Complex — And Vice Versa
Simple things are hard to accomplish, complex things are usually easier than expected. This is a pattern I started noticing a while ago and it’s interesting because it’s counter-intuitive. However, it seems to be true.
During my daily work as a software developer, I find this situation almost everytime.
A: Can we add this “open button” feature?
B: Yes ok, it should be simple to implement
One day later, B finds that the new feature breaks other features. Because of this, B had to design an entire flowchart, with every possible state and condition, and keep track of every collision with other parts of the app. And the deeper it gets, the more complex it becomes.
Why does this happen? Because simple things are not simple, but they appear so.
That’s why we define them as “simple”, they hide extremely well the behind the scenes complexity.
The nature itself reflects this concept. We may think that growing a plant is simple, ultimately we see them growing spontaneously almost everywhere. In reality, each type of plant requires a specific spot, not too close and not too far away from other plant. It needs the right biome, temperature, humidity, amount of water and sunlight.
