A former manager of mine once called me out for using the word "easy" when I meant "simple."
It might sound pedantic, but the words we use have real impact. Easy and simple look similar on the surface, but have very different meanings. Now, whenever I catch myself saying "it'll be easier this way," I double check myself. I usually mean "simpler," and say so.
Here's the difference:
- EASY is the opposite of DIFFICULT
- SIMPLE is the opposite of COMPLEX
Simple solutions often look like they were easy to develop, but insight into the process is often lost, so you never know what it took to get there. Hidden within elegant code can be hours of thought (not to mention years of experience).
Software engineers engineer software. It sounds obvious, but engineering is taking the consideration and effort to build something that will last through future maintenance. It's tempting to jump into writing code without thinking about it too much. But the writing is the easy part. Cutting out complexity is the important part.
