Architecture & practice·Complexity and how it accumulates
half the file is there to work around a framework decision that has nothing to do with the feature.
Accidental complexity
Also calledincidental complexity
Complexity that comes from the tools, the history and the workarounds rather than from the problem. Build configuration, three serialisation formats, a caching layer added for a load spike in 2021 — all of it real work that would not exist if the problem were solved fresh today. It is the only kind you can actually remove, which is why separating it from essential complexity is the first move in any 'this is too complicated' conversation.