True development, the right kind of development, comes down to having a debate with yourself about every line of code that you write. The choices are so rarely clear cut because of several different factors: the legacy, the current state of art, the communicated needs, the actual needs and the future potential needs. Lots of these factors are not specific to IT, but the churn, the dynamics, the pace are. Making a line of code is making a claim that can stand the test of argument. A good programmer will try and make a counterargument, have a debate with himself, attacking the claim from different angles. Simplicity and clear intentions are of utmost importance. And that’s why mantra “keep things simple” is deceiving: Doing things simple is the hardest. But when you nail it, the rewards are exponential, and so is the punishment if you don’t.