simplicity

Chapter 9Outroduction

It’s the end of the book, and I’ve managed to avoid the most difficult question: What is simplicity? Or, putting it another way, How can I tell that one way of doing something is simpler than another?

It’s a difficult question because, as with many things in this book, the answer depends on the context. But there are some general things I look for when evaluating a possible path forward.

S is probably simpler than C if the following are true:

S is easier to understand than C

• Can I get an impression of what S does, and how it does it, faster than I can with C?
• Can I express what S does to someone else with simpler sentences than with C?
• Does S make me pause less often than C when I have to deconstruct some gnarly code or use ...