As software engineers, we’re taught to look for abstractions.
We extract interfaces.
We create base classes.
We build reusable components.
Sometimes those abstractions make software dramatically easier to maintain.
Sometimes they simply make it harder to understand.
The Cost Isn’t Free
Every abstraction introduces another concept that someone has to learn.
Instead of reading one class, they may need to understand three interfaces, two implementations and a factory before they can follow the execution flow.
That complexity has a cost.
Duplicate Code Isn’t Always Bad
One lesson I’ve learned is that a small amount of duplication is often preferable to a premature abstraction.
If two pieces of code happen to look similar today, that doesn’t necessarily mean they should be merged.
They may evolve in completely different directions tomorrow.
Wait for the Pattern
I’ve become more comfortable waiting before introducing abstractions.
Once a genuine pattern emerges, the abstraction usually becomes obvious.
Before then, I’m often just guessing what future requirements might be.
Those guesses are frequently wrong.
Design for Today
Good software isn’t the software with the most elegant abstractions.
It’s the software that’s easiest to understand and easiest to change.
Sometimes that means introducing an abstraction.
Sometimes it means deleting one.
Final Thoughts
Abstractions are valuable tools, but they’re not goals in themselves.
Whenever I introduce a new layer, interface or generic component, I try to ask a simple question:
Does this make the system easier to understand, or have I just moved complexity somewhere else?