2024
On building durable systems
The most valuable infrastructure is often invisible. Notes on designing systems that compound over decades.
The most valuable infrastructure is often invisible. It works so reliably that we forget it exists. This is the highest compliment a system can receive.
The invisibility principle
When we build systems meant to last, we're not optimizing for novelty or recognition. We're optimizing for quiet reliability. The best database doesn't make headlines—it just works, decade after decade.
This creates a paradox for builders: the better we do our job, the less our work is noticed. Success means disappearing into the background.
Compounding over time
Durable systems share a common trait: they compound. Each year of reliable operation builds trust. Each edge case handled gracefully adds to the system's resilience. Each generation of users who depend on it creates institutional knowledge.
This compounding is the source of real value. A system that runs for twenty years isn't just twenty times more valuable than one that runs for one year—it's exponentially more valuable, because of all the dependencies, integrations, and trust that have accumulated.
Design principles
Several principles guide durable system design:
Simplicity over cleverness. Clever solutions create maintenance burdens. Simple solutions can be understood and modified by future maintainers who weren't part of the original design.
Explicit over implicit. When behavior is implicit, it becomes tribal knowledge. When it's explicit, it survives team turnover.
Constraints over flexibility. Systems that try to do everything do nothing well. Clear constraints create clear mental models.
Boring technology. New tools are exciting but unproven. Boring technology has known failure modes and established best practices.
The long view
Building for durability requires a different mindset than building for growth. Growth optimizes for the next quarter. Durability optimizes for the next decade.
This doesn't mean ignoring the present—systems that don't serve current needs won't survive to serve future ones. But it does mean making decisions with long time horizons in mind.
The question isn't "what's the fastest way to ship this?" but "what will we wish we had done when we look back in ten years?"
Usually, the answer is: keep it simple, make it reliable, and resist the temptation to over-engineer.