What leads to over-engineering? Will this scale?

Author

Sarthak Dalabehera
January 08, 2023

Practical tips for identifying when you are over-engineering.

Here are some things to consider as you plan and develop a solution or product

  • "Consider whether you're investing too much time and effort into planning for an uncertain future."

  • "Are you developing features or capabilities that are designed for a large user base, even though your current user base is much smaller?"

  • "Are you basing your feature planning on assumptions about future needs that may not be well-founded?"

  • "Are you adopting technologies that you don't currently need, in the hope that you might use them in the future?"

What leads to over-engineering?

Will this scale?

The constant questioning of whether a solution will scale. This is a common concern for software developers and can be a source of stress and anxiety.

To address this concern, developers may be tempted to over-engineer their solutions from the beginning, preparing for the hypothetical moment when their application will have a million users, even though their current user base is much smaller.

However, it's important to recognize that scaling is much easier today thanks to the availability of cloud computing resources. As long as you design your application with statelessness, idempotency, and interface-based coding in mind, scaling should not be a major challenge.

The appeal of abstraction is strong for software developers

Abstraction allows them to hide the complexity of a system behind a user-friendly interface, which can be satisfying to create.

However, it's important to be aware of the fine line between beneficial abstraction and over-engineering. Over-engineering can occur when the abstraction is excessive or unnecessary, resulting in a complex and unnecessarily complicated solution. It's important to find a balance and only use abstraction when it truly adds value to the solution or product.

Building for future need

It can be tempting to try and anticipate every potential future need while developing features, in the belief that this will result in a more comprehensive and versatile solution. However, this tendency can lead to over-engineering.

A better approach is to focus on building a solution with a well-defined scope, while recognizing that enhancements and changes may be needed in the future. Over-engineering by trying to accommodate every possible future need can result in a complex and unnecessarily expensive solution. It's important to strike a balance between being prepared for the future and keeping the solution as simple and streamlined as possible

Imagine you are building a website for a small business. You might be tempted to add every possible feature and integration from the start, believing that this will make the site more flexible and able to accommodate any future needs. However, this approach could result in over-engineering and lead to a site that is more complex and expensive to maintain than necessary.

Instead, you could focus on building a basic website that meets the current needs of the business and its customers, while recognizing that enhancements and additional features may be needed in the future. This approach allows you to deliver a functional and effective solution without going overboard and adding unnecessary complexity.

Buzz word driven development

Buzzword-driven development refers to the tendency to adopt new technologies simply because they are popular or fashionable, without considering whether they will actually add value to your project. Just because a particular technology is being talked about a lot or is featured in a blog post doesn't necessarily mean it's the right fit for your application.

It's often more effective to follow the "pragmatic school of thought" and use tried-and-true technologies that are less flashy but more reliable. A majority of bugs and issues I've encountered in my professional career have been caused by over-engineering, which often involves using components or technologies that are unnecessary or not fully understood.

For example, a developer might decide to use the latest and greatest JavaScript framework for their web application, even though a simpler and more stable solution would have sufficed. As a result, they may spend a lot of time learning and implementing the new framework, only to encounter numerous issues and bugs that could have been avoided by sticking with a more established technology.

What is not over-engineering?

There are certain actions that may seem like over-engineering at first glance, but are actually valuable investments that can help reduce time to market and improve efficiency. For example:

  • Automation and engineering tooling that focus on developer productivity: These may require an upfront investment of time and resources, but they can save a lot of effort and frustration in the long run.

  • Anything that helps you ship features faster: While the specifics of what this might involve will depend on your team and project, in general, any measures that make it easier to get new features or updates out the door can be worthwhile.

It's important to recognize that over-engineering is a subjective concept that can vary based on context. What one person considers to be over-engineering might be seen as necessary by someone else. Factors that can influence this perception include the stage of the company, the engineering culture, the market the company operates in, and the skills and experience of the team.