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Abstractions that earn their keep

A simple test for whether a layer of indirection is worth it.

Nov 11, 2025·5 min read·Engineering
Abstractions that earn their keep

Every abstraction promises to save you effort later in exchange for effort now. Most never collect on the promise.

The cost of a layer

Indirection has a running cost: more to read, more to debug, more places for behaviour to hide. That cost is paid every single day, by everyone, whether or not the flexibility is ever used.

A simple test

Has this abstraction been bent in two genuinely different directions yet? If not, it is speculative. The right time to extract is after the second concrete use, not before the first.

Delete first

When in doubt, inline it. Duplication you can see beats indirection you cannot. You can always extract later — that is the cheap direction.

Roy van Kaathoven
Roy van Kaathoven
Technical founder energy, freelance availability