KISS vs. YAGNI vs. DRY: When Acronyms Attack (And How to Survive)

Picture this: You're sitting at your coastal workspace, Oregon fog rolling in through your window, and you're staring at a function that's grown into a 200-line monster. Your ADHD brain is ping-ponging between three competing voices in your head, each chanting a different acronym like some kind of programming cult.

"KISS!" screams one voice. "Keep it simple, you're overcomplicating everything!"
"YAGNI!" shouts another. "You're building for futures that'll never come!"
"DRY!" whispers third. "But look at all that repeated code..."

Welcome to my daily reality as an INTP-F programmer. These aren't just principles—they're personalities that live in my head, each convinced they know one true path to clean code. After years of letting them fight it out, I've learned something crucial: they're all right, and they're all wrong, depending on tide.

Meet Combatants

KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid ( Minimalist)

KISS is like that friend who shows up to a fancy dinner party in jeans and a t-shirt—and somehow looks more elegant than everyone else. It believes that complexity is enemy of understanding, that best code is code that doesn't make you think.

KISS says: "If you need comments to explain it, you're doing it wrong."

YAGNI - You Aren't Gonna Need It ( Realist)

YAGNI is pragmatist who's seen too many developers build elaborate solutions for problems that never materialized. It's voice of experience, often scarred by projects that collapsed under weight of premature optimization.

YAGNI says: "Build for today's requirements, not tomorrow's fantasies."

DRY - Don't Repeat Yourself ( Perfectionist)

DRY is code perfectionist who physically cringes at copy-paste programming. It sees patterns everywhere and believes that every piece of knowledge should have a single, authoritative representation in your system.

DRY says: "Duplication is root of all evil in software."

⚔️ When Principles Collide ⚔️

Great Form Validation Debate

Last month, I was building a user registration system. Simple enough, right? But then acronyms started their familiar dance...

KISS argues:
"Just validate inline! Simple, readable, done."

YAGNI counters:
"You only have two fields! Don't build a validation framework!"

DRY interjects:
"What about when you add more forms? Extract those validators!"

⚡ VS ⚡

// KISS Solution
function validateEmail(email) {
  return email.includes('@') && email.includes('.');
}

function validatePassword(password) {
  return password.length >= 8;
}

// YAGNI Solution  
// "Just use  browser's built-in validation!"
<input type="email" required>
<input type="password" minlength="8" required>

// DRY Solution
class ValidationFramework {
  constructor() {
    this.rules = new Map();
    this.validators = new WeakMap();
  }
  
  addRule(field, validator, message) {
    // ...200 more lines of framework code
  }
}

Ken's Hard-Won Wisdom

Here's what my ADHD brain learned after years of letting these principles duke it out: They're not enemies—they're different lenses for different moments. key isn't choosing sides; it's learning to listen to right voice at right time.

Coastal Navigation Strategy

🌊 Tide Pool Approach

Like tide pools that change with each wave, our code exists in different contexts. What works at low tide (small team, simple requirements) might not work when king tide comes in (scaling, complexity, multiple teams).

🏃‍♂️ When to Listen to YAGNI + KISS

~ Prototyping and MVP development
~ Small team (2-4 developers)
~ Requirements are still changing
~ Time pressure is real
~ You're exploring problem space

🏗️ When to Listen to DRY

~ Multiple teams working on codebase
~ Requirements are stabilizing
~ You see same pattern 3+ times
~ Maintenance cost > abstraction cost
~ You're in "scale" phase

Anchoring Principles in Reality

"Aha!" Moment That Changed Everything

It happened during a particularly foggy Oregon morning. I was refactoring a notification system for third time because I kept trying to make it "perfect" from start. That's when it hit me...

problem wasn't that I was applying wrong principle—it was that I was trying to apply ALL principles AT ONCE. Like trying to navigate by three different compasses pointing in different directions. No wonder I kept going in circles!

📍 Navigation Framework

1

Start with YAGNI + KISS

Build simplest thing that could possibly work. Get it working, get it tested, get it deployed.

2

Watch for Pain Points

When you find yourself copy-pasting or explaining same thing multiple times, DRY starts whispering.

3

Refactor with Purpose

Now apply DRY, but keep KISS as your guide. Abstract only what hurts to maintain.

4

Iterate and Adapt

As context changes, be willing to swing back. Sometimes simple solution becomes right solution again.

ADHD Developer's Secret Weapon

Here's something neurotypical developers might not realize: My ADHD brain is actually perfect for this kind of principle-juggling.

Why ADHD Helps:

~ Pattern recognition on overdrive
~ Natural context switching
~ Hyperfocus for deep dives
~ Question everything tendency

Challenges:

~ Analysis paralysis attacks
~ Perfectionism spirals
~ Shiny new principle syndrome
~ Decision fatigue

ADHD Navigation Hack

I set a timer for principle decisions. Seriously. 15 minutes to choose an approach, then commit. If it's wrong, refactoring is cheaper than eternal debate. My ADHD brain loves time pressure—it cuts through analysis paralysis like a lighthouse beam through fog.

Code from Trenches

🎯 Real Example: API Error Handling

Phase 1: YAGNI + KISS

// Just handle  happy path first
async function fetchUser(id) {
  try {
    const response = await api.get(`/users/${id}`);
    return response.data;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('User fetch failed:', error);
    return null;
  }
}

Phase 2: Pain Point Emerges

After copying this pattern 5 times across different API calls...

// Starting to hurt - same error handling everywhere
async function fetchUser(id) { /* same try/catch */ }
async function fetchProject(id) { /* same try/catch */ }
async function fetchTeam(id) { /* same try/catch */ }
async function fetchSettings() { /* same try/catch */ }

Phase 3: DRY Refactor (Still KISS)

// Abstract  pain, keep it simple
async function apiCall(endpoint) {
  try {
    const response = await api.get(endpoint);
    return { data: response.data, error: null };
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`API call failed: ${endpoint}`, error);
    return { data: null, error: error.message };
  }
}

// Clean usage
const { data: user, error } = await apiCall(`/users/${id}`);

Notice how I didn't build a full error-handling framework on day one? I let pain guide me to right abstraction. That's secret sauce: Let reality be your requirements document.

Lighthouse Principle

"Principles aren't rules—they're lighthouses. They help you navigate, but they don't tell you which ship to sail."

— Ken, after too much coffee and a revelation

Start Simple

KISS and YAGNI for first iteration

Watch for Patterns

Let pain points reveal themselves

Refactor Purposefully

Apply DRY when it genuinely helps

🌊 Closing Thoughts from Coast

As I write this, fog is lifting off Oregon coast, and I can see lighthouse beginning to emerge. It's a perfect metaphor for how I've learned to work with these competing principles.

fog represents our uncertainty about requirements, future needs, and right level of abstraction. lighthouse represents our principles—not dictating our exact path, but providing guidance when we can't see clearly.

Some days I'm a KISS programmer, keeping things beautifully simple. Other days I'm channeling DRY, carefully crafting abstractions that make team more productive. And sometimes—more often than I'd like to admit—I'm YAGNI developer, ripping out clever solutions that never got used.

All of these are valid. All of these are me. And that's perfectly okay.

real wisdom isn't in mastering one principle—it's in learning to dance with all of them, letting context be your choreographer and experience be your rhythm. Trust process, trust principles, but most importantly, trust yourself to know when to listen to which voice in your head.