Hardcoding logic when you're tight on time doesn't need to make a mess. You can build the abstraction first!
This is opposite of my usual advice: Sit back and wait for desire paths to form in your code. Because in engineering it always depends.
Use experience across projects
Lots of day-to-day engineering problems have known standard solutions. Or you've seen the same thing in other projects and solved it a million times in your career.
You know the desire path! You've seen it.
For example, I recently had to disable a feature for some users. The ask sounded a lot like an enterprise-level permissions system. But we had to get it done "by today".
How do you build a whole permission system in a few hours? You don't.
But you can hardcode a quick if user.email.endsWith('blah')
.
And now you've made a mess.
Minimize code that needs to know the details
Quickly hardcoding that condition works. It's fine.
But you know the desire path for user permissions. You've seen it across dozens of projects. What you really want is a function like if user.canDoTheThing()
.
With 5 seconds more effort, you can build the abstraction first and save yourself lots of hassle later on.
class User {
function canDoTheThing() {
return this.email.endsWith('blah')
}
}
Now you've got the beginnings of a permissions system. You can use this function anywhere in the code without knowing the details. Semantically this is what your code cares about: Can user do the thing?
Today it's hardcoded. Tomorrow the logic may become more complex. In 3 months it reads the database for details. In 6 months you build a whole UI to manage those details.
And all along this evolution, the code outside your function only knows user.canDoTheThing()
.
Cheers,
~Swizec
Continue reading about Build the abstraction first
Semantically similar articles hand-picked by GPT-4
- Architecture is like a path in the woods
- How to think of your business logic as data
- How to use feature flags
- Own the outcome, not the work
- How JAMStack helps you ship
Learned something new?
Read more Software Engineering Lessons from Production
I write articles with real insight into the career and skills of a modern software engineer. "Raw and honest from the heart!" as one reader described them. Fueled by lessons learned over 20 years of building production code for side-projects, small businesses, and hyper growth startups. Both successful and not.
Subscribe below 👇
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails 💌 on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. 👌"
Have a burning question that you think I can answer? Hit me up on twitter and I'll do my best.
Who am I and who do I help? I'm Swizec Teller and I turn coders into engineers with "Raw and honest from the heart!" writing. No bullshit. Real insights into the career and skills of a modern software engineer.
Want to become a true senior engineer? Take ownership, have autonomy, and be a force multiplier on your team. The Senior Engineer Mindset ebook can help 👉 swizec.com/senior-mindset. These are the shifts in mindset that unlocked my career.
Curious about Serverless and the modern backend? Check out Serverless Handbook, for frontend engineers 👉 ServerlessHandbook.dev
Want to Stop copy pasting D3 examples and create data visualizations of your own? Learn how to build scalable dataviz React components your whole team can understand with React for Data Visualization
Want to get my best emails on JavaScript, React, Serverless, Fullstack Web, or Indie Hacking? Check out swizec.com/collections
Did someone amazing share this letter with you? Wonderful! You can sign up for my weekly letters for software engineers on their path to greatness, here: swizec.com/blog
Want to brush up on your modern JavaScript syntax? Check out my interactive cheatsheet: es6cheatsheet.com
By the way, just in case no one has told you it yet today: I love and appreciate you for who you are ❤️