Making simple solutions to complex problems

Overcoming knottyness – a guidepost and recurring schism of web development and programming

Web users should not be forced to interact with interfaces that don't hide their complexity.
They want simple designs that focus on the most relevant options and actions.

And programming is a discipline of reducing the diversity of goals, options and obstacles – the sea of complexity – to simple and solid solutions.
Identifying what's generic and what's specific in a problem or task, and then consolidating the handling of the common while still leaving supporting room for the particular.

Others on, or using, simplicity/complexity

• Wikipedia: complexity and simplicity

• Art & Science Factory's wonderful map of Complexity Science

• Juan Loaiza, Oracle's Senior Vice President of Systems Technology (see 'Database Machine'), in a webcast about Oracle's database server (Exadata): "The purpose of the Sun - Oracle aquisition is to produce a better product for customers. So what we're trying to do is create integrated, best-in-class products, with more value and less complexity."