More than a decade´ of experience as a software developer. Software architecture, team coaching, working with all technologies and on all platforms used for web-facing products.
This is a really interesting collection of thoughts!
I think I lean towards a much more pragmatic view---perhaps close to your idea of Tolerable Overhead, but with less emphasis on quantification.
I think a lot of software engineering ability is about being able to choose between different approaches, weighing all sorts of things, including the relative overheads of different approaches.
Sometimes the best solution for a software developer to propose is to do nothing. To keep a process manual. Maybe support it a little bit, but not automate it.
It can take a lot of analysis and hard work to come to that conclusion, and that can feel very dissatisfying. I think sunk cost plays a huge role as a driver of bad decisions regarding overhead!
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
This is a really interesting collection of thoughts!
I think I lean towards a much more pragmatic view---perhaps close to your idea of Tolerable Overhead, but with less emphasis on quantification.
I think a lot of software engineering ability is about being able to choose between different approaches, weighing all sorts of things, including the relative overheads of different approaches.
Sometimes the best solution for a software developer to propose is to do nothing. To keep a process manual. Maybe support it a little bit, but not automate it.
It can take a lot of analysis and hard work to come to that conclusion, and that can feel very dissatisfying. I think sunk cost plays a huge role as a driver of bad decisions regarding overhead!