> If you have the problem that your coworkers create unnecessary abstractions, I envy you
I'm curious what languages and frameworks you work with. I suspect this is something that varies from one programming subculture to another. In my experience, the only codebases where I've consistently seen underuse of abstraction have been PHP and C, and in those cases it has been because the code was written by entrepreneurs or engineers who were not software professionals. In Java and Scala I've seen plenty of code that used too much abstraction but almost no code that used too little. In C++ and Python I've seen it go both ways.
In my book, what programmers need first of all is the willingness to rewrite their code. I've been trying to hit the right balance for twenty years, but even now I frequently have to backtrack because the decision to add or not add a layer of abstraction turns out to be wrong. Biasing somebody towards or away from abstraction just changes the kinds of mistakes they make without making them better at cleaning them up.
I'm curious what languages and frameworks you work with. I suspect this is something that varies from one programming subculture to another. In my experience, the only codebases where I've consistently seen underuse of abstraction have been PHP and C, and in those cases it has been because the code was written by entrepreneurs or engineers who were not software professionals. In Java and Scala I've seen plenty of code that used too much abstraction but almost no code that used too little. In C++ and Python I've seen it go both ways.
In my book, what programmers need first of all is the willingness to rewrite their code. I've been trying to hit the right balance for twenty years, but even now I frequently have to backtrack because the decision to add or not add a layer of abstraction turns out to be wrong. Biasing somebody towards or away from abstraction just changes the kinds of mistakes they make without making them better at cleaning them up.