The war is on and the target is simple: bloat. In fact, I wish it could be simple but it is not. It is all about complexity, weight loads and size. Some refer to bloat as:
a term [...] to describe the tendency of newer computer programs to be larger, or to use larger amounts of system resources (mass storage space, processing power or memory) than older versions of the same programs, without obvious benefit to end users.
I would say that it is the tendency for software to try to be everything for everyone or to try to be too many things at once.
I wrote about those “nice to have” features previously and how careful you must be when implementing those features. It is quite related. It seems like the more you try to meet the needs and every needs of your clients, the more your software looks like a monster. A monster in terms of resources it uses, a monster in terms of complexity, a monster in terms of usability and a monster to maintain. A big slow moving monster.
In previous posts, I wrote about which software I use on a daily basis. They all have this in common: they are simple and to the point. My media player is not a consumer electronics store and my email client is not a meeting planner. They follow the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. I think it is the way to go with software development.
Some are going into extreme actions with this philosophy. It goes as far as telling your clients the F word when they ask for new features. I would not go as far as that, but I do find a lot of common sense with it.
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