Quoting Zach Kehs

Simon Willison's Blog News

Summary

Zach Kehs observes that unlike physical buildings, software faces no structural ceiling and can always degrade further through additional layers of indirection and reduced performance.

No content available
Original Article
View Cached Full Text

Cached at: 09/06/26, 12:12 PM

# A quote from Zach Kehs Source: [https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/6/zach-kehs/](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/6/zach-kehs/) 6th September 2026 > If you continue to add floors and rooms to a building forever, it will collapse\. Software faces no such constraint\. The code can*always*get worse\. There can*always*be a new layer of indirection or a reduction in performance\. —[Zach Kehs](https://zachkehs.com/blog/theres_no_limit_to_how_bad_code_can_get/#9-ref),There's No Limit to How Bad Code Can Get

Similar Articles

Quoting James Shore

Simon Willison's Blog

James Shore argues that AI coding tools must proportionally reduce maintenance costs relative to increased output to prevent escalating technical debt.

Good architecture shouldn't need a carrot or a stick

Lobsters Hottest

Blog post argues that good software architecture should be self-evident and frictionless, advocating Netflix/Spotify-style “paved road” patterns over coercive governance boards or embedded architects.

There continue to be reasons for software to be slow

Lobsters Hottest

The author argues that while LLMs make certain optimizations cheaper, software can still be slow due to factors like increased tolerance for latency in asynchronous workflows and other practical constraints.