The Boring Systems - 18/01/2025

The Boring Systems

All maintainable systems are alike; each unmaintainable system is unmaintainable in its own way.

Some inherit spaghetti code that would make an Italian chef weep. Others bear the scars of a thousand quick fixes, each one a well-intentioned Band-Aid that somehow became permanent.

And some systems? They’re just victims of their own success, forced to dance to tunes they were never meant to hear.

But here’s the thing about maintainable systems: they all share the same DNA.

They’re boring. Predictable. Almost disappointingly simple.

They don’t try to be clever. They don’t show off their architect’s brilliance with elaborate patterns or cutting-edge features. Instead, they do the unsexy work of being obvious.

Documentation isn’t an afterthought - it’s built into their bones. Error messages don’t just say “something went wrong” - they tell a story about what happened and why. And operations teams don’t need to perform ritual sacrifices to the server gods every time there’s a deployment.

We all say we want to build maintainable systems. But when the pressure is on and the deadline is looming, we make bargains with tomorrow that we’ll have to pay for with interest.

The truth? Maintenance isn’t something that happens after you build the system. It’s not a phase that comes later. Maintenance is the system.

Everything else is just the prologue.

Want to build something that lasts? Make it boring. Make it obvious. Make it simple.

Because while every unmaintainable system might have its own unique story of how it got that way, every maintainable system tells the same tale: someone cared more about tomorrow than today.

The choice is yours. But remember - you’re not just writing code for now.

You’re writing it for the person who will inherit your decisions.

Even if that person is future you.