YAGNI
HoldTechniques
An agile development principle meaning "You Aren't Gonna Need It," used to avoid building speculative features or structure too early.
Why it's here
Placed in Hold: 2 article(s) of evidence from 2 source(s), led by research-stage coverage, with 0 in the last 30 days. Confidence 43%.
Evidence (2)
- 4Hacker News·6/28/2026researchKent Beck Reframes YAGNI as a Timing Principle
Kent Beck argues that YAGNI is not mainly about saving coding effort, but about avoiding speculative structure built before a feature is actually needed. He frames the principle around two costs: lost optionality from premature commitment and negative net present value from paying structure costs too early.
- 4Martin Fowler·4/14/2026researchFowler on AI, abstraction, and programmer laziness
Martin Fowler reflects on a Pragmatic Summit discussion with Kent Beck and Gergely Orosz about AI, earlier technology shifts, agile methods, TDD, and performance metrics. He argues that human constraints and “lazy” abstraction still matter, and that LLMs can encourage overcomplicated systems unless developers apply judgment such as YAGNI and TDD-style checks.