The Wrong Abstraction by Sandi Metz
Shares rank 37 of 60 articles by recommenders
People recommend this short essay on why wrong abstractions in code cost more than duplication, and why the content is worth reading past the headline.
People recommend this short essay on why wrong abstractions in code cost more than duplication, and why the content is worth reading past the headline.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 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
Core point: duplication beats wrong abstraction
“Duplication is far cheaper than the wrong abstraction”
Comment from 13 Apr 2026 in “The Peril of Laziness Lost” Important point worth reading closely
“worth clicking through to the actual content of the talk rather than just the headline”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Code duplication is far cheaper than the wrong abstraction” “It’s a really important point and I’m glad to see there are more articles about it!”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “Carl's Required Reading” Describes a common real-world pattern
“probably describes what happens with sufficient nuance”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Why Software Factories Fail”
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 Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Wrong Abstraction by Sandi MetzThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It’s a really important point and I’m glad to see there are more articles about it!”
“probably describes what happens with sufficient nuance”
“worth clicking through to the actual content of the talk rather than just the headline”
“Duplication is far cheaper than the wrong abstraction”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.