u/OCTOBERSKY2010

I've worked on systems where the logic was extremely modular, using reusable function blocks, AOIs, and standardized structures.
I've also seen projects where everything was kept as simple and direct as possible, making it easier for technicians to troubleshoot on the plant floor.
Which approach do you prefer in real-world environments?

Do you optimize for maintainability and scalability, or for making sure the next person can understand the logic at 2 AM during a breakdown?

Curious where people draw the line between good engineering and overengineering.

Over the past decade, we've seen infrastructure become infrastructure-as-code, networking become software-defined, and cloud platforms abstract away large amounts of underlying hardware complexity. It seems like the same pattern is starting to appear in other domains as well: managing systems through software layers rather than directly through hardware-specific tools and configurations.
Do you think software-defined architectures are becoming the default approach for complex systems, or are there limits to where this model works well?
Curious to hear where developers see this trend heading over the next 5–10 years.