Essay · 8 min read

The Wrong Abstraction

Sandi Metz · sandimetz.com Free Intermediate

Often the urge to rebuild comes from one abstraction that no longer fits, not from the whole codebase. Metz explains why a wrong abstraction is worse than duplicated code, and how the fix is usually to inline it back and re-split, not to burn everything down. It teaches you to make a surgical cut instead of a total rewrite.

  • Duplication is often cheaper than the wrong abstraction
  • Sunk-cost feelings make a bad abstraction hard to abandon
  • The fix can be local surgery, not a full rebuild
Open on sandimetz.com ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. What are the warning signs a developer is building the wrong thing?
  2. When is the right moment to stop iterating on the MVP and rebuild it properly, and how do I avoid the second-system rewrite trap?

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