Comment by mustache_kimono | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mustache_kimono | Hacker News Reader

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mustache_kimono

> it is about a perceived explosion in complexity both in terms of number of developers & in terms of allocated hardware, without an accompanying explosion in actual end user software complexity.

Do we want software to be more complex? Can you explain what you mean here? The explosion from my POV seems to be related to simply more software.

> at its core we all understand that nobody needs 600mb of npm packages to build a webapp.

Perhaps, but isn't this a different argument/different problem?

If the argument is that these software packages are bloat, which can be detrimental to performance (which BTW is a bank shot as you describe it here), we all understand we don't need npm at all to build a webapp. However, it might make it easier? Isn't easy really important in some domains?

Again -- software engineering is an economic activity. If Word startup speed was important then more engineering resources would be expended to solve that problem.

>> I think it is important to note, as the parent comment alludes, that these performance problems are real problems, but they are usually not correctness problems (for the counterpoint, see certain real time systems).

The thing is we agree that performance problems are real problems. The problem is imagining that they are the same problem for every programmer in every domain. A high speed trading firm or a game dev studio simply has different constraints than Microsoft re: Word or a web dev.

"Why does this software not behave like my (better) software?" is a good question. Unfortunately I think Blow, et. al, only give this question a shallow examination. Maybe one doesn't treat the engineering of a thermostat the same way one treats a creative enterprise like a game? Maybe the economic/intellectual/self rewards are not similar?

> Do we want software to be more complex?

No but the complexity of software should follow from the complexity of end user features. Essential vs accidental complexity. Some problems are complex, they require complex software. Some problems are simple, so the software should be simple. In an ideal world, at least.

> However, it might make it easier? Isn't easy really important in some domains?

Indeed, this is maybe a better wording of the problem: it is easier but not simpler. Easy is never important in a domain, except perhaps adversarial domains like marketing or sales. Easy is shortsighted. Easy is not economical because easy choices are not the right choice.

> If Word startup speed was important then more engineering resources would be expended to solve that problem

No this is a common misconception about economics: things do not at all behave rationally in supply/demand situations. People want the wrong things all the time, people act irrationally all the time, business don't know what value is all the time, large problems are ignored all the time.

> Unfortunately I think Blow, et. al, only give this question a shallow examination

I am not sure about this, maybe so. Either way, so do you: it is not at all about performance, but performance is the canary in the coalmine: it is a direct translation of the essential vs accidental complexity problem.

If I can serve you a webpage in 10ms, and you serve me that same webpage in 3000ms (excluding network latency), you are obviously solving that problem in a way that is an order of magnitude more complex than what I have proven is necessary to solve the problem. Either by involving more software, more hardware instructions, more infrastructure network hops, etc. In other words: performance is an easy objective metric for the complexity that lies behind (an otherwise opaque) piece of software.

> .. [I]t is not at all about performance, but performance is the canary in the coalmine: it is a direct translation of the essential vs accidental complexity problem.

This is all nice color on my commentary, but it fails to address the point of my two parent comments: programming is an economic activity. Sometimes a putatively more complex solution is the "right" solution for someone else, because it is easier to understand and implement, or fits within an existing workflow (it is more coherent and consistent).

Yes, if the performance delta is an order of magnitude, then yes, perhaps that is a problems for such software, but then again, maybe it isn't, because economics matter. Lots of people use 10+x slower languages because for loads of technical reasons, but also economic ones.

> In other words: performance is an easy objective metric for the complexity that lies behind (an otherwise opaque) piece of software.

Then presumably so is performance per dollar? Your argument can make sense, where the cost of a redesign is low (in cost of programmer education and experience and ultimately work), and performance benefits are high (10ms faster nets us 10x more dollars). That is -- Blow, et al/you, need to show us where these, "easy", if you will, 10x gains are.

Again -- I agree performance problems are real problems, and data oriented design is one way to reason about those problems, but Blow's marketing exercise/catastrophizing (see "Preventing the Collapse of Civilization") hasn't solved any problems, and is barely an argument without an analysis of what such incremental improvements cost.

> This is all nice color on my commentary, but it fails to address the point of my two parent comments: programming is an economic activity

I've mentioned the economics multiple times now, while you're still hung up on performance, I'm not sure why. Again, performance is an indicator of a perceived deeper underlying problem. The underlying problem is not performance, though that's the surface level gripe that is mentioned. There is no part of the argument that advocates you should redesign a specific piece of software to be faster. Rather, the argument is that our collective ability to make good software is deteriorating.

The underlying problem is nebulous and hard to catch and prove because it is hard to reason objectively about a real program in relation to hypothetical other programs that could compete with it. This makes the Muratori/Blow argument similarly nebulous and their (intentional or not) judgmental attitude does not help in the communication. I am aware that this argument is not iron clad or even clear or that the judgmental attitude is in any way warranted.

So, why does it even make sense to talk about this then? Because if there is an alternate universe where we can actually solve the same problems with vastly simpler logical structures, we should strive to make that reality precisely because of the economics, because simpler logical structures beat the pants off complexity in terms of predictability, investment, ROI, etc.

So to summarize, this is the argument (as I perceive it):

1. lots of software is slowing down over time, e.g: same problem is solved with more resources

2. More resources means not just waiting for stuff to be done, but likely also more complexity (resources are spent doing something, hence there is more to be done, hence more complexity).

3. If the same problems are solved by involving increasingly more complex software over time, there is a likelihood that we are writing software (even new software) in a more complex way than necessary, and that its getting worse over time.

4. We should figure out if that observation is true, and what we can do about it, before the cost of building software (economics) becomes prohibitive. (e.g dramatized as the collapse of civilization)

A lot of assumptions are made in 1 and 2.

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