Building Simple Systems That Work

In our rush to build the "perfect" system, we often end up with something so complex that it becomes our master rather than our servant. I learned this lesson the hard way while rebuilding this very blog.

The Complexity Trap

I started with Gatsby - a powerful static site generator with React, GraphQL, and countless plugins. It could do everything:

Dynamic image optimization
Hot reloading
Plugin ecosystem
Advanced routing
Build-time data fetching

But here's what actually happened:

Dependency conflicts broke my builds
Node.js version mismatches
Plugin compatibility issues
10-minute build times for simple changes
More time debugging than writing

The Simple Alternative

Instead, I built a 150-line Node.js script that:

Reads markdown files
Converts them to HTML
Applies a template
Generates a complete blog

Build time: 0.2 seconds
Dependencies: 3 libraries
Lines of code: 150
Maintenance burden: Near zero

Lessons Learned

1. Ask "What do I actually need?"

Not "What could I possibly need?" The difference is everything.

2. Prefer composition over configuration

Small tools that do one thing well, composed together, beat large frameworks every time.

3. Optimize for change, not features

The system you can quickly modify is more valuable than the one with more features.

4. Complexity is technical debt

Every dependency, every abstraction layer, every "smart" feature is debt you'll pay later.

When Complexity Makes Sense

I'm not advocating for simplicity everywhere. Complex systems make sense when:

You're building something genuinely complex
You have a team to maintain it
The complexity serves users, not developers
You can afford the maintenance cost

The Questions to Ask

Before adding complexity, ask:

Does this solve a real problem? (Not a hypothetical one)
Can I solve it more simply? (Usually yes)
Who benefits from this complexity? (If it's just developers, reconsider)
What's the maintenance cost? (Always higher than you think)

Building for Yourself

The best personal systems are often the simplest ones. They should:

Be easy to understand six months later
Work reliably without maintenance
Be easy to modify when needs change
Focus on your actual use case, not edge cases

Conclusion

This blog post was written in markdown, compiled by a simple script, and deployed in seconds. It looks great, loads fast, and I can focus on writing instead of wrestling with build tools.

Sometimes the best technology is the one you barely notice.