A pragmatic critique of dogmatic adherence to software engineering 'best practices' like Clean Code, TDD, microservices, and Agile. The author argues that canonical advice from industry gurus assumes ideal greenfield conditions that rarely exist in practice. Real seniority means knowing when to break the rules: managing technical debt consciously, resisting unnecessary complexity (e.g., microservices for 100 users), accepting compliance constraints, and delivering working solutions within real constraints rather than chasing theoretical perfection.
Table of contents
The Mirage of “Greenfield” and Strategy in “Brownfield”The Tax on ComplexityContinuous Delivery vs. Compliance OfficeMicroservices: Scalability vs SimplicityAgile: from manifesto to bureaucracyManaging Debt: Beyond the TODO SyndromeThe Tavernello Metaphor: Scope vs QualityThe Gurus sell books, we sell solutionsSo are we old or senior?Sort: