Another level of indirection

All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection.

(attributed to both Butler Lampson and David Wheeler)

This is also captured as the Fundamental theorem of software engineering; not a formal theorem, but a general principle for managing complexity through abstraction. This idea is also discussed in more detail by Diomidis Spinellis in his chapter in the 2007 book “Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think”.

One thought

  1. Or perhaps: “All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection, except for the problem of too many layers of indirection.

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