Simplicity
Complexity means distracted effort. Simplicity means focused effort.
Edward de Bono
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
Hans Hofmann (1880 - 1966)
He who can take no great interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great.
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
...there are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.
C.A.R. Hoare
Inside every large program is a small program struggling to get out.
Ibid.
the hallmark of the professional programmer is not in the complexity of the code they produce, but rather in the simplicity. When you can take a complex problem, and solve it with simple code, you are a professional programmer
Daryl Banttari webapper.net
Simplicity - the art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential.
Principles of Agile Software Development
The default movement on a software project should be in the direction of taking elements of the software away to make it simpler rather than adding elements to make it more complex.
Steve McConnell, "Software Project Survival Guide", 1998
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system.
John Gall, "How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail", 1977
The single most effective way to make a service as reliable as possible is to make it as simple as possible. Find the simplest solution that meets all the requirements.
Limoncelli, Hogan and Strata, "The Practice of System and Network Administration (2nd Ed)", 2007
Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing, layout, processes, and procedures.
Tom Peters (1942 - ) Business management guru
I know you have 1000 great ideas for things that iTunes could do. And we have 1000 more. But innovation is not about saying "yes" to everything. It's about saying "no" to all but the most crucial features.
Steve Jobs. CEO Apple Computer Inc (to a user conference)
In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944)
Developing fewer features allows you to conserve development resources and spend more time refining those features that users really need. Fewer features mean fewer things to confuse users, less risk of user errors, less description and documentation, and therefore simpler Help content. Removing any one feature automatically increases the usability of the remaining ones.
Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger, "Prioritizing Web Usability", 2006
I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate (plurality should not be posited without necessity).
William of Ockham (ca. 1285-1349) Franciscan monk
It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business.
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)
A child of five would understand this. Send somebody to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx (1895 - 1977)