The Hidden Iceberg: Why Does Software Take So Long?

Hey everyone,

I was asked almost this very question yesterday: "What takes so long in the dev world?" It's a perfectly fair question, especially when a feature seems simple on the surface. This morning, I read an excellent article, "Hidden complexity in software development," that I think sums up the answer beautifully, especially in its "Foundations" section.

The best way to explain it is the classic iceberg analogy. 🧊

So much of it is unseen!

The feature a user sees and interacts with—the button, the form, the data on the screen—is just the tiny tip of the iceberg visible above the water. The real work, the vast, hidden bulk of the project, is the massive foundation it's built upon, submerged and out of sight.

The "Happy Path" vs. The Foundation

The code for the "happy path"—the scenario where everything works perfectly—is often the smallest and easiest part to write. The time-consuming part is building the foundation that accounts for everything else.

This foundation includes:

  • Error Handling: What happens if a user enters text where a number should be? What if an external API is down? What if the database doesn't respond? Building robust error handling so the app doesn't just crash is a huge, invisible part of the work.
  • Security: This involves everything from user authentication (making sure you are who you say you are) to authorization (making sure you can only see your data and not someone else's). It means sanitizing every input to prevent attacks.
  • Resilience and Stability: A lot of my recent "invisible updates" to Market-Viewr are perfect examples of this. Adding caching, automatic API node retries, and better logging doesn't add a new button for the user to click, but this foundational work is critical to making the app stable, fast, and usable.
  • Data Management: How is the data stored? How is it backed up? What happens when the structure of the data needs to change? This is another huge piece of the puzzle.
  • Deployment & Tooling: The complex process of getting the code from a developer's machine onto a live server, setting up the build process, and managing dependencies is a whole world of its own.

So, when a seemingly "simple" feature takes a week or more to build, it’s rarely the feature itself that’s taking the time. It’s the 90% of the iceberg submerged underwater that ensures the feature is secure, stable, and reliable for you to use.

As always,
Michael Garcia a.k.a. TheCrazyGM

0.15722955 BEE
4 comments

Even though I'm not a dev (yet!), I am aware of a good deal of the backend complexity and challenges, so I've definitely learned to have lots of patience with software development. You guys that are actually doing the coding work get mad props from me! 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙

0.00082466 BEE

And all the bloody edge cases that humans cause :P

Logic is hard, and when you have complex, overlapping logic, you need to squash the unexpected outcomes of solutions. Best to plan them out properly, but particularly in the business world, that logic is ever changing, and everyone's interpretation of it tends to be a little different.

0.00079651 BEE

Secure, Stable and Reliable

Often I feel like we are dealing with trade-offs, for example to be maximally reliable the app might load slower. Weighing trade-offs like this can take a lot of mental energy, especially when not every client values the same thing!

!PAKX
!PIMP
!PIZZA

0.00079177 BEE

View or trade PAKX tokens.

@ecoinstant, PAKX has voted the post by @thecrazygm. (1/2 calls)



Use !PAKX command if you hold enough balance to call for a @pakx vote on worthy posts! More details available on PAKX Blog.

0.00076519 BEE

PIZZA!

$PIZZA slices delivered:
@ecoinstant(1/20) tipped @thecrazygm

Come get MOONed!

0.00074981 BEE