The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 60 articles by recommenders
People recommend this short, humorous essay on software complexity and simplicity, saying it sums up design and refactoring advice well.
People recommend this short, humorous essay on software complexity and simplicity, saying it sums up design and refactoring advice well.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Humorous take on complexity
“I think this section on complexity sums it up really well whether you're talking about code or laws”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Over-regulation is doubling the cost” “humorous posts saying essentially the same thing”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Don MacKinnon: Why Simplicity Beats Cleverness in Software Design [audio]” Useful for microservices and refactoring
“The best descripcion of microservices comes from "The Grug Brained Developer"”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “How to Scale a System from 0 to 10M+ Users” “I think grug has the best refactoring advice”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “Duplication Isn't Always an Anti-Pattern” Enjoyable, memorable writing
“That was still one of the best finds on HN in a long time.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt When Using an AI Assistant” “The Grug Brain article is fantastic”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Carl's Required Reading” Often paired with other classic essays
“I wish everyone in our industry read 'No Silver Bullet, & Grug-brained Developer'.”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Software engineering is about managing complexity” “this article pairs nicely with”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “How Complex Systems Fail (1998)”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter Naur | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson GrossThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Right to Read by Richard Stallman | 12 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Even grug brain developer agree.”
“I wish everyone in our industry read 'No Silver Bullet, & Grug-brained Developer'.”
“I am also a broken record about Grug-brainedness”
“this article pairs nicely with”
“I really struggled to read the style of writing and gave up”
“The Grug Brain article is fantastic”
“I didn't know the creator of htmx was also the author of the Grug Brained Developer”
“Have used Grug as example for years to have LLM explain things to me.”
“Here's the modern version:”
“The best descripcion of microservices comes from "The Grug Brained Developer"”
“That was still one of the best finds on HN in a long time.”
“humorous posts saying essentially the same thing”
“I think grug has the best refactoring advice”
“I think this section on complexity sums it up really well whether you're talking about code or laws”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.